Knights of the Intrepid
by American Soldier
Summary: None of this exists...nothing is real...at least, that's what he wants to believe. pay careful attention to the first part
1. Chapter 1

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

A/N: I'm going on a retreat, since it was the only way I could get out of a family event, and I'll be spending the next two weeks with three good buddies of mine, along with one not-so-friendly buddy (DUCKY!), so, I decided to go ahead and post this one.

BTW: this was the original version that I changed up for _The Greyest Knight._ I decided to run this one, so, I will be deleting that story, unless someone wants it, then, have it. Just let me know, ok?

§◙§

It had waited.

For centuries on end, it had waited for a chance to make its way back into the world…to make its presence known once more…to make its bid for control over everything.

It had been there when the Lord of Hosts began launching his angelic armies, all led by his Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael to name a few) in the first war that could actually be considered 'holy' in the history of time. It had known, then and there, that it had to prepare. It had to find a way to make the best of the situation…and it came up with a plan to survive.

It fed off a human…mixed their blood…ensured that purpose would remain.

Then, it took another human-a female human-and put his being, his essence, his soul into her body, evicting her own. The body morphed and took on a vestige liken to its own body, though smaller in form.

Its own body, which was at the bottom of Hell.

It had waited even longer for its children to begin to feed…to spawn…to kill. Once that had happened, he knew that it was only a matter of time before fate corrected the balance.

And, when the Shadow Men made their bid for a champion, a protector, a slayer…it had been there.

As time flowed, it slowly began to make its way into the soul of the Slayer, whoever she may be at the time, each time getting a little closer to its goal. With each girl, it came closer, each time, gaining more ground.

Then, its prayers were answered…when the Slayer became a girl by the name of Buffy Summers…a girl with deep seated power fixations, a girl who knew the importance of playing a game with people to get them to do what you want. A girl with a weak mind.

As time progressed, the soul became weakened, almost to a point beyond recognition as the girl had met her 'end.' The Slayer moved on, but, it stayed. It had taken its chance and gained ground quickly, though it did not reach its goal…but, the ground gained was more than it had ever had before. Upon her return, it knew that it had what it needed.

Then, the soul had left again, this time for much longer. She would have been bound for purgatory to await judgment, but, it had kept her Earth-bound for a spell or so. That was the opportunity it needed…the only opportunity it needed, for, upon her return, it was in.

Now, all it had to do…was wait some more.

§◙§

**The Country of Tanzania; a former British Army fort constructed during World War II; September 23rd, 2016:**

"Up…down…up…down," a group of people stood upon a platform, watching as a group of thirty or so Slayers did an early morning round of the Daily Dozens, modified for the Slayer physiology, making it more like the Daily Hundreds. One Slayer in particular, the only Slayer facing away from the group, was leading the group in their exercise.

The group of people upon the platform were members of the elite on that base. They were the head Watchers and Slayers on that base, taking care to keep watch on that group, as well as every other group that came to their base.

The first member of that group was a tall girl with reddish-brown hair, dressed in a pair of loose jeans and a white sleeveless shirt. Her name was Amy Madison, and she was the head honcho on base, the leader of the Slayer/Watcher/Wicca conclave that was there.

Beside her was a girl dressed in jeans similar to her own, with a red top and a white bandana on her forehead to keep the dust off. She had a utility belt around her waist, filled with assorted stakes, knives, and tools that she had found useful in her time as a Slayer. Her name was Vi. She was the Head Slayer on the complex, and, as such, commanded the most sway amongst the troops. She had grown up in the years after Sunnydale, and had become what Buffy and Faith both considered a model Slayer.

The last member of the group was a tall man dressed in desert camouflage with a pair of aviator sunglasses on and an AR-15 in his hands. Underneath the sunglasses, an eye patch could be seen over his right eye. His name was Xander Harris, and he was the only man on base without a position. He was the man that everyone knew they could count on…for nearly anything. He was an amateur Watcher, a decent mage (having long since overcome his discomfort with magic), a veteran of dealing with Slayers, and a man with more military training than anyone present on the base (he had convinced Riley, a Colonel in the Marines, to let him go through boot and Recon training without having to stay inside).

"They work well together," Vi said with a smile, "I trained them well."

"We all did," Amy said, "…Have them start a patrol around the underground after they hydrate."

"A team is already down there," Vi told her, "Another one isn't needed."

"…You sent a Slayer team without informing me," Amy asked, visibly steamed in a way that had nothing to do with the intense heat, "Why?"

"Because, you were busy sleeping," Vi sneered at her, "If you'd get off your ass and do something-"

"Do not speak to her that way," Xander interrupted, the first words he had said in near twenty-four hours, "She is the Watcher in-charge, the Wicca in-charge, and has years more experience than you. Aside from that, she had just performed a vitally complex spell for last night's operations, one which she needed to recuperate from. You will NOT disrespect her again that way, do you understand?"

"I do not obey your orders, Drill Instructor Harris," she snarled, "I obey my own orders, Faith's, and Buffy's orders, and no one else's!"

That being said, she turned and stalked over to the group of Slayers training nearby. Xander sighed and shook his head, recognizing this as being the general attitude of all Slayers, not just on their base, but all the Slayers in the entire world! Every Slayer was beginning to get insubordinate to Watchers and Wicca and, pretty much, anyone who wasn't a Slayer.

"Do you have any idea why this is happening," Amy asked him as she watched Vi take over the PT.

"There're so many of them," he said, "They think they don't need anyone aside from themselves…it's part of the independent nature of the Slayer. Now that they're all so many, the need for independence is overwhelming. I'm surprised they can work so well together. Slayers are alphas, but, all the ones I've met work like twins."

"But, there are alphas," Amy said, "Buffy and Faith. You heard her."

"…I'll be in my room," Xander said, and, with that, he disappeared.

§◙§

Xander sighed as he opened the door to his small apartment. As he walked inside, he took a quick look around to make sure that everything was as it should be. His books on the shelf were unmoved, his bed was made, and his computer was up and waiting for his use. He sighed and took his glasses off, sticking them on his desk. He unloaded his weapon and set it aside on his gun rack, which was hanging on the wall, and placed the clip inside a compartment behind the lower left-hand drawer of his desk, where he stored the other clips so that some people (i.e., Slayers) couldn't get their grubby little hands on them.

He checked his email (only one, from Riley, saying that he'd got another vamp nest the other day, fifty in all), cleaned his guns and rifles, and changed from his battle-dress and into his civies (a pair of blue jeans, a black shirt, and boots). It was all a part of his morning routine after PT and marksmanship. He had few plans today, thankfully. All he had to do was do a review of Slayer Team Bravo for Amy and go to a Masai mage to get his tribe's aid in the war on the demons. He would go and do both those things after he took care of one piece of business.

§◙§

"Ah, Xander," he was greeted warmly by Dr. Benjamin Manning, a member of the Peace Corps inside the area who specialized in paranormal phenomena, "How are you today?"

"I'm doing good," Xander lied, "How's our patient?"

The patient he was referring to was one of his best friends in the whole world. No, it wasn't a girl…or a guy. It was a dog. Jesse was a giant, black hound whom he had found during one of his patrols in Europe, back before he'd been assigned to Africa. He found Jesse inside a Paris alley then, the victim of a werewolf attack. At first, Xander had planned on just killing the beast, ending its misery…but, one of the accompanying Slayers was an animal-rights activist and had insisted on getting it medical care. To this day, he was thankful that she had made him do that. After that, the vet had said that the dog needed care for a few weeks…and the Slayer who'd insisted on his care had died. So, he'd taken the brute in…Xander hadn't had a stable relationship with anyone since Anya's death, and had lost his ability to…well, pretty much exist with humans, with only a few exceptions. He didn't speak, didn't go out, stayed inside his apartment, drinking and watching TV…working out was the healthiest thing he was doing.

Jesse, though, ended up becoming his best friend, and the one thing that had saved himself. Once, during a drunken stupor, he had taken his gun out and shot Jesse in the chest…he only survived because he was infected by werewolf venom. It changed his physiology, making him incapable of being killed by anything other than silver. Thankfully, Jesse didn't wolf out every full moon, he just got really mean. Every full moon, he bought him a nice, large steak, blood dripping off of it.

It was that incident that made him quit drinking. Afterwards, Xander would take Jesse out to run and play with him, enjoy his time with him. It was the thing that had brought him out of his funk. When Jesse had been injured during a vampire attack last week, Xander had rushed him to the nearest thing to a hospital in the area: the Peace Corps.

"Oh, he took quite a hit," Ben said with a smile, "But, he's a tough little bugger. I think he's waiting on you."

Sure enough, a giant, black hound came bounding into the room not a second later. He jumped up at Xander, barking his head off as he did so, and Xander let out an 'oof!' sound as he felt Jesse ram into him, sending him crashing to the floor below.

"Alright, alright," Xander laughed as Jesse slobbered all over him, "Get up, boy. I can't breath."

The dog understood and got up, but kept on licking him as Xander came to his feet.

"As you can see, he's fully recovered," Ben said, again, smiling, "I've got some antibiotics for him to take, but, I doubt he'll need them. Werewolves have excellent immune systems."

"Thanks, doc," Xander said as he rubbed his dog's head, "Come on, Jess, let's get you home. I think there's a nice, juicy steak waiting for you."

The dog started to drool even more.

§◙§

As promised, Jesse got his meal and Xander got slobbered on some more, but, it was fine with the man. He loved his dog.

§◙§

That night, Xander slept peacefully in his bed, with Jesse locked up in his moon-pen, as he'd come to call it, just outside his window. The dog himself was sleeping comfortably in the desert air, secure in its safety with the were-side coming out tonight (it got larger, its fangs grew exponentially, it's eyes turned red) and its hunger from the steak.

That is, until about two-thirty that morning. Jesse awoke immediately, smelling something wrong in his master's bedroom. He smelled…something foul, with intentions even fouler. It immediately began barking its head off and tried to escape the chain around its paws and the pen as it did so.

Ultimately, it was the barking that saved Xander's life.

§◙§

"What," Xander muttered sleepily as he heard Jesse barking like a mad thing.

Xander sighed and opened his eye, having it quickly adjust to the lack of light, and recoiled in shock. Standing in his room were two people with ski masks on, all dressed in black. One was armed with a dagger, and the other appeared ready to hold him down.

Xander reacted first and drove his feet into both his attackers' abdomen, forcing them both to keel over and clutch the attacked area. Xander reached beneath his pillow and withdrew his Berretta, intending on holding them up with it so that he could get some answers, only to have it knocked out of his hands. Xander backed away into the wall and rolled to the other side of the room along the bed. Once there, he reached into his drawer and pulled out his pistol. The one with the dagger came at him and Xander, on impulse, fired.

The shot caught his would-be assassin in the shoulder, completely blowing the arm off. The other one paused at this, completely shocked by the resulting damage.

"Alright," he said to that person, "Stop, and you'll live with all your limbs."

He turned his head as he heard someone running down the hallway and, in that instant, his attacker leapt out of his room window and down to the sands below. He went to his window to pursue, either on foot or with gunfire, only to come to a stop as he saw Jesse leap out of his cage and ram full-on into the person.

"JESSE, STOP!"

The hound, thankfully, did as he was told, though it was obvious that Xander was too late. The girl (he could see her hair now) was lying in a pool of her own blood from her neck. Xander jumped down and landed softly. He made his way over to her and, before he got too close, began to gag.

The girl…she was a Slayer.

§◙§

"London wants you on the first plane there, Xander," Amy said to her friend two days later, "They're going to conduct an investigation and get your statement there."

"More like they want me out of danger," Xander watched a pair of Slayers glare at himacross the way, "They're baying for my blood since I took two of their own."

"But, those two tried to kill you," Amy said with emotion, "Why can't they understand that you defended yourself?"

"…I don't know," he said with a frown, "I don't know anything anymore."


	2. Chapter 2

Knights of the Intrepid

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 27th, 2016: 

"Come on, Jess," Xander called his dog to him, and the hound quickly made his way to his master's side, trotting along with him as he walked along the Council halls.

He had debriefed several Watchers and Slayers on what had occurred, with the Slayers completely disbelieving him about what happened with the Slayers (it was obvious that they believed that he had simply murdered two Slayers, despite what he said), and now he was on his way to the Head Slayer's office to debrief her on what had happened.

He hoped that his old friend would be understanding…though, he doubted it.

He knocked on the door quietly, knowing that she would hear him anyway.

"Come in, Xander," he heard her call out, "And leave the dog outside."

Xander scowled slightly, knowing that Jesse would like it even less than he did, but, he needed to speak with her, so, he decided to do as she wished.

"Hey, boy," he squatted down and rubbed Jesse's neck tenderly, "Why don't you go visit Andrew, huh? You remember Andrew, don't you?"

Jesse barked, confirming that he did remember Andrew.

"Go play with Andrew, alright," he said to him, "I'll be back in a little while."

Jesse whined a little bit, not liking the idea of leaving Xander alone.

"Please, Jess," he pleaded, "I'll be back in a bit."

Understanding that Xander would be alright, Jesse turned and headed back down the hallway, remembering where Andrew would be. Xander smiled and stood up, knowing that Jesse would be alright with Andrew.

"Come in," Buffy called out, and Xander turned around and entered her office.

"Xander," she stood up, dressed in one of her fancy designer outfits that her salary could afford so easily, and motioned for him to sit down in one of the leather seats nearby, "How are you?"

"…Been better," he responded with a sigh.

"What happened, Xander," Buffy got straight to the point, her gaze intent though, he could tell that she had a pretty good idea of where this would end.

He went through the story once more, including every detail that he could think of to try and convince her of the fact that he had defended himself and not coldly and needlessly killed two Slayers, as was the main viewpoint for most Slayers.

As he finished, he could tell from her look that she hadn't liked what she heard.

"You were attacked by two Slayers," Buffy started, "And, in return, you blew off one of their arms and fed the other to your dog?"

"The one whose arm I blew off was armed with a knife," Xander reaffirmed, "The other was killed by Jesse in his wolfish state, and she wouldn't have been killed if she hadn't been in my room to kill me in the first place."

"They could have been underneath a spell of some kind, did you think of that," Buffy asked.

"I was more focused on keeping myself alive," Xander responded.

"…If it were two Watchers or two mages, things would be different," Buffy stated with a sigh.

"I figured that out already," Xander remarked.

"You know the vampire number has increased over the years at an alarming rate," he nodded, he was all-too familiar with that fact, "Slayers are needed now more than ever, much more so than Watchers or mages. If it had been two Watchers or two mages, we wouldn't be having this conversation, but…Xander, I'm placing you under arrest."

"What," he demanded, completely thrown off by this turn of events, "Why? I defended myself! I shouldn't be detained for defending my life."

"And subsequently ending the lives of two Slayers," she responded, "We need Slayers more than we need you, Xander. Slayers make this world work, and you took two of them away. For that, I have to place you under arrest."

"Even though they were trying to kill me," he was astounded, "I get punished for trying to stay alive."

"No, you get punished for killing two Slayers," she raged at him, "If you had died, they would have received disciplinary action but, would not have been locked away. You, on the other hand, will be."

"This is unfair, Summers," he stood up quickly, and she came to her feet right along with him, "To hold your Slayers above the rules you have set up in the past is completely unfair, and unlawful."

"It doesn't matter what you think, Xander," Buffy yelled, "You are going to jail for this!"

"I'm out of here," he responded and, as he turned away, Buffy grabbed his shoulder and pushed him into the nearby wall, his head hitting the brick…hard. He slipped down along the wall and passed out, blood spilling from the gash.

"…Lydia," Buffy spoke into the intercom, "Have two Slayers come and take Mr. Harris down to the dungeons. And make sure there're two guards waiting for him."

"Yes, Ma'am," the Slayer on the other side said with an eerie calmness in her voice.

§◙§

**The Country of Tanzania; a former British Army fort constructed during World War II; September 28th, 2016:**

Amy walked into the apartment complex with a sigh. She had just been given word that Xander was being detained by the Council due to his killing two Slayers and his assaulting Buffy Summers, and she didn't like it one bit. She doubted that Xander, despite his dislike for his former friend, would attack her, even if she got him riled up. Amy knew Xander had better sense than to do that.

As Amy approached Vi's room, she could hear a noise from the room. She walked carefully, trying to pinpoint what that noise was.

It was a moan, followed by a roar that she knew too well.

Pulling out a stake as she moved, Amy opened Vi's door quickly, and charged in, ready to save the young Slayer from the vampire that had her in its clutches.

"Do you mind," only to come to a stop as she saw a disgusting sight.

Vi was on her bed, naked, with her back facing the sky. On top of her was a robust, male vampire, his game-face on in full length. There was blood on his mouth, blood that had come from Vi's shoulder, apparently. He, too, was naked. It was obvious what they had been doing.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing," Amy yelled at her, her eyes going slightly dark as she did so.

"Getting laid by a hot vamp," Vi said with a glare as she pushed the vampire off of her, "What do you think you're doing, interrupting my fun?"

"Stopping you from making a big mistake, that's what," Amy snarled, "You know what happened with Buffy. Why would you even think about letting a vampire do that to you."

"Because, it felt good," Vi said, and she leered at her, "You should try it."

"No, I **don't **have necrophilia, thank you very much," Amy snarled at the Slayer, her magic and anger growing by the second.

"Oh, well," Vi said and, before Amy could even mutter a spell, she had covered the space between the two and was holding Amy against the wall by her neck, "Guess we'll just have to change that."

"Let go of me," Amy tried to build up power to release herself, but, found that she couldn't do it. Something was stopping her.

"Roger," Vi called out to the vampire, "Bring the necklace. She'll be the first."

The vampire in question smiled evilly at Amy and reached into his clothing, which was lying in a pile along the bedside floor, and withdrew an ancient looking necklace with a single green gem in the center.

Amy struggled as the vampire placed the necklace around her throat, knowing it was useless with Vi's grip around her, but, doing so anyway to know that she'd fought whatever they were going to do to her.

"Atistrata," Vi said smugly and, as Amy stood there, a white essence escaped her body, causing her to gasp in pain and collapse to the ground. She writhed around for a second, trying to gain some control over the pain but, found that she simply could not.

Vi and Roger watched her as they dressed, smiling at their handiwork as the witch lost her will. After several minutes, the writhing came to an end and Amy just lay on the floor, her eyes dead of any semblance of life.

"Stand," Vi ordered and, like that, Amy came to her feet, her eyes watching the two with a look of quiet expectation. She was waiting for more orders.

"Go and gather the Watchers and mages in the amphitheater," Vi commanded, "Tell them that their Slayers have gifts for them all for their great services to us."

Amy nodded her head dully and set off to accomplish her task.


	3. Chapter 3

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

§◙§

**The Land of the Rising Sun; Tokyo; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 28th, 2016:**

Keiko watched with silent jubilation as her Slayers moved stealthily through the halls of the building, killing any Watchers they found and enslaving any mages they caught. They had already gone through the process of discovering what they knew, using the two Wiccan Slayers at her disposal to discover what Council and demonic information the Watchers had to offer.

After that, they had begun disposing of the human baggage and took control of the powerful mages. However, they would keep one Watcher, the Head Watcher, alive to continue 'reporting in' while she would train her Slayers and any other allies they could gain in preparation for what was coming.

She looked to her left as she heard a groan of pain from the Head Watcher, and saw the beautiful redhead gasping for breath, with a deep gash inside her left side, leaking blood onto the floor.

"Please," she cried, "Stop this!"

"I don't think so," Keiko sneered, "You're lucky we need you alive, otherwise we wouldn't have done that healing spell. It should be kicking in by now."

"…Why are you doing this," Dawn asked.

"Because," Keiko stated, "It's what we've always done."

§◙§

**The People's Republic of China; Hong Kong; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 28th, 2016:**

Chao-Ahn rammed her sword through her Watcher's stomach, reveling in the feel of his life escaping his body as he looked at her in disbelieving shock. He had been an accomplished martial artist before becoming a Watcher, and he had trained her, as well as many other Slayers, well. Now, he wished he had never done so.

She raised her voice above the din and issued out the order to search the premises and kill any remaining Watchers. However, she did tell her lesser Slayers to be wary…some of the people on base weren't Watchers or mages, and they were to be treated well.

After all, they weren't monsters.

§◙§

**The Federal Republic of Germany; Berlin; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 28th, 2016:**

Robin Wood backed away quickly, fleeing into the security bunker that had been in place since the days when Hitler had ruled in Nazi Germany, with a multitude of Watchers and mages behind him. The sudden mass coup d'état of every Watcher HQ on Earth escaped his grasp entirely, for he had his own problems to deal with.

The main one at the moment being that every Slayer formerly under his command had committed to destroying the Watchers and doing something strange to the mages.

He came to a stop at the final door that would stand between them and the Slayers (there was one more, but, it was coming down quickly). He stood at the entrance and rushed people inside, trying to get them to what safety he could provide for them.

"Hurry up," he yelled, "Get inside, let's go!"

"Hey, Robin," he stopped to look at Daniel Cohen, a former detective from Oregon who'd joined the Watcher ranks a few years after the Calling, "I remember the schematics to this bunker. There's a secret passage that leads into the sewer system, we can use it to escape."

"Well, get on that," Robin ordered, and Daniel went to try and find it, "Alright, listen up," he shut the heavy door, and two Watchers locked every lock on it that they could, hopefully buying them some time before the Slayers managed to break through, "Everyone will follow Daniel once he gets the passage open, he'll lead you to the surface.

"Now, I need some volunteers…to…stay with me," Robin said heavily, "To buy some time for everyone else once the Slayers break through. I wouldn't ask, but…I didn't think anything like this would ever happen."

As if to emphasize his point, the door was suddenly rocked by a gigantic force…the force of a Slayer embedded her fist into the metal.

"I got it," Daniel said, and a slab of concrete moved over where he was standing, revealing a passageway that would lead them to safety.

"Go with him," he ordered, "Those who'll stay…stay. I'm not telling, nor asking, just stating that…I can't do it alone."

He'd always thought that if the time come, he'd tell everyone to go, sacrifice himself for the greater good. Instead, here he was, trying to keep people with him when he died. Intellectually, it was wise…more people would help to slow the Slayers down. Robin, though, didn't think it was the best thing he could do, but…it was what he was doing.

Sighing, he turned away from the crowd and faced the door, which was beginning to wane under the pressure. He hefted up his sword, wishing that he had a rifle or even a pistol, knowing that it would get him farther than any sword could.

"Here," he turned around and saw people leaving through the passage, but, four people were staying with him. Three were male, the third was a Wicca that had been trained by Willow. She would be the main factor in the upcoming battle, he knew.

The person who had talked to him was one of the men, a middle-aged man with two pistols, one in his right hand, and the other in his left, extended outward to Robin.

"You might live longer," the man, whom Robin regrettably did not recognize, said.

"…Thanks," Wood said, then, he turned his attention to the mage, "Set up a shield around the door."

She nodded and set to work.

"Let's face facts," he said, "We're going to die," they all, save the mage, nodded in agreement, "…If we're gonna die, let's die knowing each other's names."

"…Jerome," the middle-aged gun toting man said.

"Sid," a twenty-year-old WIT (Watcher-In-Training) said, hefting his shotgun up as he did so.

"Lex," the last one, an old man armed with an M-1 Garand from his old unit, said, "And that's my granddaughter, Karen."

"I'm Robin," he told them, "Nice to meet you."

"It's up," Karen said, and it was just in time, for at that moment, the door gave way, revealing the Slayer forces in their entirety…along with their leader.

"Wood," Rona snarled as she and her Slayers stood just at the threshold, with the doors beyond the barrier that had come up completely just after their destruction, "I'm going to enjoy ripping your spine out."

"Why're you all doing this," he asked, truly curious despite his misgivings.

"It's what we do," Rona said with no sarcasm.

She tried to take a step forward, but her face ended up scrunched as she walked right into the barrier.

"What the," she muttered, backing away with a glare, "Oh, I get it. Make a barrier to stop us. Well, don't worry. We know about that passageway that leads into the sewers," Robin backed away from her at that, "My bet is that you should be hit there…right…about…"

Roars filled the air from the passage…very familiar roars.

"Now," Rona finished with a smile.

"Get ready," Robin screamed, and the group set up a defense for the room, centered around the passageway.

"Let's go," Rona said, and the Slayers walked away as the vampires began the blood fest.

§◙§

**The United States; Boston, Massachusetts; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 28th, 2016:**

Faith watched with a predatory smile as the Watchers were killed and the mages were taken captive, relishing in the bloodshed that they were doing.

She remembered going from good to bad to good again. It had been a bumpy ride just to end up back where she had been before. She didn't consider herself, or her daughters, to be evil. She just considered them all to be…better. They had a goal, they had plans, and they would see them through to the end.

She sighed as she looked over to the other side of the chamber.

Through those doors, inside of a white padded room, was a wild beast…a beast called Dana.

After her retrieval, Dana had been…well, uncontrollable…unsolvable. None of the Council's healers, shrinks, or mages had been able to help her…and that was for the best, Faith knew that now. Now…they had a highly toned creature that wanted nothing more than to cause death and destruction.

Oh, she couldn't wait to unleash her on the world.

§◙§

Dana writhed in her cell, feeling a horrible amount of pain…not the pain of any of the Slayers, her sisters and two mothers, but that of their victims…people everywhere, dying in agony due to the actions of her brethren.

Dana was unlike any Slayer before her, or after her…she had received her powers while mentally unstable. She heard voices, the voices of people that she had never even met before, the voices of her family…the voice of their killer and her tormentor.

But, the voice that had been tormenting her for years now…it was new, still new to her. It would whisper things to her, tell her to do things…and, sometimes, she found it incredibly difficult to stop herself from doing those things. She heard what it wanted…and, she would probably be out there with them if it weren't for the voices of the past Slayers, the Slayers who had died long ago…they told her not to, helped her, encouraged her.

Now, she knew what she had to do.

The voice itself had stopped not too long ago, only an hour or so, and now, the pain came solely from the headache that came with her release. But, the voices were all doing their part to help her. So, when she ripped through the straightjacket that held her captive, the pain was dulled slightly, but nowhere near where it could have been.

With remarkable clarity for a mad woman, she walked up to the door (with several different varieties of locks, totaling to a staggering seventeen in all) and began to kick it out.

§◙§

"Mistress Slayer," an enslaved mage approached Faith, "Dana has escaped."

"Good," Faith smiled, "She must really want in on the-"

She paused, her eyes going far-off as she stared ahead, seemingly devoid of all life. After a moment, she stood up from her seat, and began running out the office.

"Priority alert," she yelled at the mage, "Dana must be found and killed!"

§◙§

Dana watched from her place in the air ducts as the Slayers milled about, dead bodies completely ignored as though they were nothing. Suddenly, they all tensed up and stared off…then, moving as one, they raced in all directions, taking whatever weapons they could.

They knew.

She crawled through the ducts as quickly as possible, not pausing to pick a direction when she came to a crossing, just continuing to veer right, hoping that she would eventually find her way through to the outside of the building…to freedom.

"There," she heard a voice below her say, and she heard the thwack of bolts coming her way…fortunately, none of them penetrated the duct system. They were wooden tipped and wood simply couldn't cut through metal.

She grabbed the bracelet she'd been forced to wear and chucked it back down behind her, as far as she could.

"After her," she heard below her, followed by the sound of running.

Sighing, Dana continued along her way.

After another quarter hour, she was at a vent that led outside to a grove of trees, trees which gave way to a stream, and that stream flowed down to Boston.

She kicked the vent out and leapt down to the ground below, climbed over the fence, and ran as fast as she could into the trees.

As she did so, she felt eyes on her back.

§◙§

Faith watched with a scowl as Dana made her escape.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 28th, 2016:**

"I don't understand why she would do this," Willow said to Kennedy as she followed her down the hall to where Xander's cell lay, "He defended himself after two Slayers attacked him. Even if they were underneath some kind of influence, it was still life or death!"

"They were Slayers, Willow," Kennedy reminded her.

Willow stared at her girlfriend in disgust. After Sunnydale, she and the Hispanic girl had had an on-again, off-again relationship, one which was infamous amongst most mages and Slayers. They were back on again, and showed no signs of going off…that is till Xander had been locked up for killing two Slayers.

Willow and Xander had worked hard after Sunnydale to rebuild their relationship and, she thanked the Goddess for this every day, they had finally gotten back to where they had been before Buffy's arrival in Sunnydale. Back then, she would have sided with Buffy or Kennedy immediately but, she had learned her lessons when it came to friends. She was going to be there for him now, no matter what anyone said or did.

Kennedy got the meaning of her look and hastily added, "Buffy just wants Xander safe. You know some Slayers won't care if it was self defense, they'll want his head anyway."

Willow sighed, realizing that Kennedy had a point. It was one thing to lock someone away because they'd killed someone you'd liked better, but, it was a completely different story when you locked someone up for their own good.

"Why are we down here, anyway," Willow asked, "These are the apartments for the Watchers who stay over to do work."

"Buffy put him in the room right here," Kennedy pointed, "She wanted him to feel comfortable."

Willow smiled, completely convinced now that Buffy had had her friend's best interests in mind. She and Buffy hadn't been on speaking terms since she'd started to date the Immortal and they had momentarily connected again after she'd dumped him but, then, she'd started this whole new string of 'We're Slayers, we rock, you're nothing!' It was nice to see that she was doing better.

Willow opened the door and walked inside, saying, "Hey, Xand," as she did so, only to stop as she found that the room was empty.

"What-" she was cut off as she felt herself pulled backward suddenly, then, pushed away.

Willow hastily turned around, glaring at Kennedy as she did so. The girl had a smug look on her face.

"Where's Xander," she demanded, getting angrier by the moment.

"Where he belongs," Kennedy said, "He killed two Slayers, Will. No matter what you think, we'll always be more important than some one-eyed idiot."

Willow snarled, her hair starting to turn black and her eyes going even darker than they had before. She started to build up power to launch an assault, only to stop as she heard Kennedy say something. All of a sudden, she felt her very life flow out of her, a feeling she remembered well from Halloween of '97. She fought for it with all her strength and magic, and managed to keep it in. Kennedy shouted, and the pull increased, sucking even more of her away. Still, she fought, despite her growing fatigue. Kennedy shouted three more times, rapidly, and that was enough to force Willow down, the necklace that she had not noticed sucking away her will.

She collapsed to the floor in a heap, convulsing worse than ever.

§◙§

Kennedy turned around as she felt the presence of the most powerful being on the planet…she was smiling.

"You did well," Buffy said as she entered the room, "I knew she'd put up a fight, but…"

"Now, I get to do what I've always wanted to," Kennedy said with a triumphant smirk, "Kill Xander."

"I know how you feel about him," Buffy responded with a smile, "It's good. But, it's not good for us as a whole. Willow fought, hard, and she almost beat you. If Xander were to die, she'd feel it…then, will or no will, she would kill us all."

Kennedy sighed in frustration but, nodded all the same. She would obey her superior's orders.

"No one in London knows what's happened," Buffy stated with a grin, "It will be a few more days before we take the most powerful Watchers. Till then, keep silent about this. And be ready to act when necessary."

"Right," Kennedy agreed.

"In the meantime," Buffy glanced back at Willow, who was now simply lying on the floor, breathing and blinking as was instinctive, and doing nothing more, "Have fun."

"I will," Kennedy smiled.

As Buffy left, the girl turned back around and stared at the will-less form of her girlfriend.

"Stand," she ordered, and Willow obeyed, "…Take my clothes off."


	4. Chapter 4

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

A/N: 1: this isn't about Buffy, or the Slayers, or canon, or Xander, or anything else like that. Re-read the first chapter, and you should be able to understand.

§◙§

**The Land of the Rising Sun; Tokyo; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:**

Dawn Summers quivered in agony as she was heedlessly carried down a hall and into one of the quarters used to contain demons they needed to keep alive for questioning. She was still bleeding slightly from her wound, but, otherwise, she was healing well with the magic influencing her immune systems.

She cried out as she was dropped onto the hard mattress, and the Slayer that had dragged her there simply sneered at her.

"You'll get three meals a day and you already have a crapper," she said to the former Head Watcher, "You have everything you need."

"Why," Dawn started, "Why don't you just use one of those necklace things?"

"Because," the Slayer said, "We need you to sound human."

With that, she left Dawn alone with her pain.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:**

"Here you go," Andrew tossed the ball to Jesse, who ran off into the park after it joyfully.

Andrew, though, wasn't so joyous. Recently, one of his best friends had been locked away for murder, and there was no sign of him ever being released. It was a bogus charge, really, but…

"Come on, boy," Jesse leapt up at him, and he did all he could to remain balanced, "Let's go back to my office. I'll give you some food then."

§◙§

As Andrew walked down the hall, he passed an open office. Glancing inside, he caught sight of Buffy and several other high profile Slayers sitting amongst a group of rough looking individuals. Thinking it was just another attempt to gain allies in the ever-occurring war, he continued along his way, only to stop as he caught a snippet of their conversation.

"…give you the bombs."

That made Andrew stop short. Everyone in the Council knew that Buffy had a damning opinion when it came to modern weaponry. If she had changed her mind, it would mean a great deal for the Council as a whole.

He stepped up to the wall and listened, willing Jesse to be silent.

"In exchange," a man picked up, "We want an alliance with the mages underneath your control. They help us whenever we want, however we want."

"Agreed," he heard Buffy say, "You will deliver them in three hours."

"Fine," the man said, "But, may I ask…why so many?"

"We're planning to take over the world," Buffy said, and he could hear the smile in her voice, "We're using coffeemakers."

"…OK," the man said, obviously bewildered by her statement, "Whatever. Three hours?"

"Three hours," Buffy agreed.

Andrew left quickly, completely flummoxed by what was happening. Buffy was ordering a ton of bombs and, in exchange, all the mages they had had to do whatever these people wanted whenever they wanted. He didn't like the sound of this.

§◙§

**The United States; Boston, Massachusetts; Hallison's Thrift Store; September 29th, 2016:**

Dana walked out of the changing room with an audible sigh. After making her way into the city, she had been picked up by a nice old lady who was heading to the court house to deal with a traffic violation. On the way, she'd dropped Dana off at the thrift store, where Dana planned on getting a new wardrobe. Thankfully, the lady had been senile so, she hadn't questioned Dana's appearance (dressed in a hospital gown with nothing on underneath) but, she knew that wouldn't last.

Now, dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a red shirt, and a black leather jacket, Dana was ready to head back out into the world and do what she had to. She paid for the wardrobe with money the lady had given her and left quickly, knowing that it was only a matter of time before her fellow Slayers caught up with her. She had to get to London immediately and stop what was planned, but, she only had the day to do so.

And when it happened, it would happen without anyone being able to do anything to stop it.

§◙§

**The United States; Los Angeles, California; September 29th, 2016:**

The Hyperion Hotel had seen many changes over the years. A large part of it had been destroyed about thirteen years ago, during a grand battle between Angel and his avengers and the armies of Wolfram and Hart. All of them, save one, had died.

That one, in honor of the comrades who had fallen that day, had done what the others had done before joining Wolfram and Hart. A detective organization, with a policy of 'evisceration' against Wolfram and Hart, was opened about a month later, and it was still going strong today, with plenty of new cases coming in every day. The staff was much different than the old one had been and, yet, in many ways, it wasn't.

The leader of the band of heroes was a woman who, by all standards, was either cold or warm, no in-between. When cold, she was like ice, with pale skin and blue hair, dressed in leathers that left little to the imagination. Her name was Illyria. Though she never would have expected it even a month after her return to the world, she had taken up the cause of the lesser beings, defending them as her friend Wesley, and his friends, had in the past. Learning from Wesley had given her a necessary foundation to begin in the world, and what she did not know, she learned quickly. After over a decade in the world, she found that…she loved it as it was.

The second member of their group was a young man named Connor. The Destroyer, the son of two vampires, was an overall brilliant man. He had a degree in psychology, astrophysics, demonology, and was working towards a degree in computer engineering. After helping his father defeat that man, Hamilton, he had hid with his family, knowing that their wrath might extend to him. However, they were much more focused on the AI team, so much that they completely ignored his family. Illyria had managed to rid herself of them by temporarily taking over as the keeper of the Deeper Well, effectively making her untouchable by them. After a year or so, the next keeper, an elderly knight from England, took over, and he was blessed with eternal youth, just like Drogyn. After her return, the Destroyer had sought her out, and the two had begun the agency.

The third member was also special, like Illyria and Connor. Groosalugg had left L.A. after confirming that Cordelia loved Angel, and had started traveling the world, learning everything he could of it. Eventually, he had returned to Pylea in an attempt to rekindle his relations with their people…only to be run out by a mob of angry demons, who hated being ruled over by the humans. After he heard of the disaster in LA, he had come and offered his services to Connor, who welcomed him in with opened arms. They had a well-oiled team after all these years, and they were somehow always one step ahead of Wolfram and Hart.

Along with the three veterans, there were two new members, only added to the roster over a year ago. One was a young man named Jerome, who was a child of one of the Lost Boys who had worked under Charles Gunn. Jerome had followed in the family tradition and taken to vampire hunting, and was the youngest member of their group at sixteen. The second member was a young lady named Deirdre. A Marine, Deirdre had first been introduced to the demon world after her brother had been killed in action by a vampire in the Orient. Deirdre had raised Hell up the chain of command, wanting to know what had happened to her brother. As a result, she had been introduced to the forces at work, primarily the forces underneath Colonel Finn who worked hard to control the demon threat as best as they could. Afterwards, she had been retired due to a neck injury that caused her to have to have it surgically repaired. She'd already lived in L.A., so, it was only a matter of time before she met the agents of Angel Investigations.

That morning, the AI team had been hard at work on destroying a large demon nest in the sewers. It had twenty-five in all and would have been a problem for the average hunter group but, average didn't apply to a group with an Old One, a half-demon, and the son of two vampires, with the aid of the last Lost Boy and a Marine backing them up.

"Clear," Deirdre yelled as she shot the last demon in the head.

"Good work, everyone," Connor said with a grin, "I didn't think it would be that easy."

"Says you," Jerome yelled as he extracted his broadsword from the carcass it was in, "You three with your powers and whatnot, making me look bad and all."

"What did you expect," Illyria said with a grin, a stark contrast against her abnormally pale face, "You think you mere mortals can compare with us?"

"You bet your leather bound ass I do," Jerome said, "I'll take you anywhere, anyplace, anytime."

"Let us not fight, friends," Groo said, flashing another dazzling smile as he did so, "We should celebrate."

"Caritas," Deirdre suggested.

"Caritas," Connor agreed.

§◙§

**Caritas Karaoke Bar:**

Connor sat back in his seat and enjoyed as Jerome rapped up on the stage. Jerome was actually a pretty good singer, but, he just didn't look right on the stage.

"Here you are," he looked up and smiled at the blue-haired man who was serving him his drink.

"Thanks, Oz," he said, taking his drink from the werewolf as he did so, "How's it going, Wolfie?"

"Delicately," the man answered, "Would you like your destiny read?"

"Ooh, Sondra's back," Sondra was an Anagogic demon, like Lorne, from Pylea. She had found Fred's formulas for portals and had entered the world several years ago, and she took the place Lorne had, though Oz was the overall owner of Caritas. She and Connor enjoyed a…relationship, of sorts. She had returned to Pylea for a brief visit with the family and he was eager to enjoy some alone time with the beautiful Pylean.

"Yes," Oz stated, "I see in your future hot monkey love."

"I hope that's not bullshit, Oz," Connor grinned.

At that moment, Sondra came in. She was dressed in a brown garment that her mother had made for her, and was making her way over to them.

"Hello, boys," Sondra greeted them with a smile.

"Sondra," Connor came to his feet and hugged her, choosing to not begin their meeting with a passionate kiss (like they usually would), for tonight, he had some news…or would, hopefully, by the end of the night, "How was your trip?"

"Oh, you know," Sondra said, "Mother says 'Hello,' Dad says 'Grr…Arg!' It's just like visiting a nest of vampires."

"Sit down," Connor invited her, "We were just having a celebration over destroying a demon nest."

"Really," Sondra asked, "You do that every week or so. Why celebrate this one?"

"Well, why not," he countered.

"…No reason not to," Sondra smiled.

"There's something I have to tell you," he said.

As he began, a new singer stood up on stage. She was different than any other singer, and, as soon as she started to sing, Sondra collapsed into her seat, gasping for breath.

"SONDRA," Connor shouted, "What's wrong?"

"SHHH," she ordered, and he shut up.

As the girl sang, Sondra listened and saw…and she did not like what she saw.

As soon as she ended, Sondra sat up fully and stared at her and her friends. She knew who they all were and what they had done…but, she had no idea what the Slayers had up their sleeves next.

"Sondra," Connor asked cautiously.

"…We need to get to their building," she stated, "There are people there who need saving."

"What," he asked, confused, "Who? What building?"

"Oz," she asked as the wolf came by, and she pointed to the table that housed those women, "Who are those girls?"

"Slayers," he said casually, "They have a complex along the docks."

"Can you show us," she asked.

"…Why," asked the wolf, suspicious of her motives.

"They've killed people," Sondra said, "And done worse to others."

"Sondra, I worked with three Slayers before," Oz defended them, "They wouldn't kill anyone if they didn't deserve it."

"Oz, she sang," Sondra stated, "I saw it in her past."

"What about her destiny," Connor asked.

"Something was…blocking it," she said, "Something doesn't want anyone to know what they're up to. Something powerful."

"…I'll show you tonight," Oz said, "Come by around eight."

"Why are they even here," Connor asked.

"An office party started here last night," Oz stated, "They showed up around ten and, well, a crowd built up. They haven't left all day."

With that, the wolf left, his thoughts all facing the past.


	5. Chapter 5

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

A/N: Alright, I get that people are getting the wrong message here, and, I want to clear this up without ruining the story so, here it goes.

This is NOT about Buffy, or the Slayers…well, it kind of is about the Slayers, but, not really. You'll see if you continue to read.

There is a large amount of OOC for the Slayers, and the reasoning for it will be revealed later on.

And, FYI, yes, I don't like Buffy, but, unlike some of my other, more well received stories, this is not about turning her into a monster (not that I really have to). This has nothing to do with her, absolutely nothing…at least, the reasonings behind the story have nothing to do with her. The thing that inspired me to do this was a movie called _The Manchurian Candidate_.

Everyone up to speed now? Then, I'll continue.

Oh, BTW, the dates are going by London standard time. And, this chapter was inspired by a nightmare I had.

§◙§

The United States; Boston, Massachusetts; Private Airstrip; September 29th, 2016: 

"I need a plane," Dana begged.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," a greasy pilot said with a smile, "There's no planes available at the moment. Most of the pilots are going to bed right now, anyway."

"Please," she pressed on, "There must be someone."

The man sighed and picked up his book and began to check over the list to see if there was one pilot open for that day.

"…Well," he said after a moment, his body language indicating to her that he was uncomfortable with what he was about to say, "I wouldn't do this if I were you, but…there's one pilot open."

"What's wrong with him," Dana asked.

"…The last three female passengers he had sued the company for sexual harassment," he said with a sigh, "I'd fire his ass, but, it's his uncle who runs the company."

"I don't care," Dana said, "How much?"

"Every pilot here gets his own fee," he said, "You'll have to cover that with him."

"Where is he?"

§◙§

Donald Sinclair had been a pilot for near three years now, and he'd been a womanizer for even longer. Born and raised in Alabama, Don had been taught by his father that women were prizes to be sought after. Despite how many times they say 'no,' they really wanted it. That was why Don had been shocked by the suits against the company. All women wanted men to sex them up. Why would they ever sue about it?

At that moment, Donald was scrubbing down his plane, preparing for a nice, leisurely day at home, when something caught his eye. A thin, raven haired woman was coming up the tarmac to him. She was a little bit on the skinny side, but, that didn't stop her from looking sexy. Don smiled as he saw that she was heading his way.

He let out a wolf whistle and said, "Hey, there, little darlin'! What can Big Don do for you today?"

"Take me to London," she said to him, "And I'll make all the lawsuits against you go away."

That brought Don up real fast. He knew that his uncle would fire him if he got one more mark, but, to have them all disappear…that would put him back in the green again.

"How," he asked, wanting to get the whole story.

"I have dirt on the women you molested," he cringed, that was such a negative way to say it…on the other hand, if she had dirt, that was good enough for him.

"Well, lady," he smiled at her, "You got yourself a plane."

"Good," she glared at him, and he fought hard to keep from shitting himself, "Touch me, and you will die."

"…Understood," he responded, quivering as he did so, "Well…just let me finish scrubbing this down, and we'll be set to go."

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016: 

Andrew took the picture quickly as the man left the hall, knowing that he might get caught at any second. As soon as he was done, he quickly left the hall and went back into his office.

"Sit, Jess," he instructed the dog, who obeyed him as he sat down in the seat.

He loaded the camera into his computer and hacked into the INTERPOL, CIA, FBI, and Pentagon databanks and ran a search through their records for the man that he had photographed.

It took the search about five seconds before all four sources came back with one singular name.

"Jophry Zocas," Andrew read, "Wanted for arms dealing, the 2014 bombing of the ocean cruise liner _San Diego_. Suspected of having 'dirty bombs', suitcase bombs from the U.S.S.R., and of having Stinger missiles. Involved in the occult world, hit man for hire, terrorist for hire…and wanted for an assassination attempt on the President!"

Andrew gasped as he realized what this meant. Buffy and the Slayers were doing business with a terrorist. But, why? Their policy was 'no negotiation with human criminals.' Why was she disobeying her own laws?

"Bombs," Andrew muttered, "They want bombs."

His door opened, and Andrew looked up expectantly, keeping his face controlled as Buffy entered.

"Hey, Andrew," she greeted him, "I need you to send out an email. I want a number of Slayers back in London within the hour."

"And that number is…" she told him, and he gaped at her, "Buffy, that's…simply not possible. That's too many to want back in an hour."

"Trust me, Andrew," she sneered at him, "They'll be here. Now, send that email."

"…Yes, Ma'am," he muttered, and he did send it but, along with it, he sent an email to the overall Watcher Head.

Rupert Giles was at home today, taking some more sick leave to try and cure the cancer in his body with magic. It was working, but, slowly. Doctors had expected for him to die in 2010, but, he magicked his way past their expectations. Now, he just had to keep it up.

"I hope Rupert can do something about this," Andrew prayed.

§◙§

The United States; Portland, Maine; Private Airstrip; September 29th, 2016: 

"I still don't see why we have to stop here to get a seaplane," Don muttered irritably.

"Because, we'll need it," Dana answered.

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016: 

"You have them," Buffy asked.

"Yes," Jophry responded with a grin, "I can't wait to see what kind of destruction you'll do with them."

"Plenty, I guarantee," Buffy smiled, and she turned to the conclave of Slayers behind her, "Girls, grab either a suitcase, an orb, or a satchel."

"Those of you who grab an orb, come with me," Jophry shouted out.

"Suitcases, with me," one of his companions shouted.

"Satchels, with me," the other shouted.

Buffy sat down in her chair and watched happily as her daughters learned how to use these deadly devices. Soon, very soon, they would use them.

§◙§

Xander leaned against his cell wall, thinking. He had already tried escaping, three times, and each time, the two Slayers guarding him would just toss him back inside. Ever since his incarceration two days ago, he had been thinking of ways to escape his predicament but, so far, all he was coming up with was…bleh!

He looked up as he heard the cell door unlocked, and blinked as his eyes were assaulted by the light on the other side.

"You have a visitor," one of his guards snickered at him.

"You have three minutes," the other said, and she pushed in a tiny fellow that he knew very well.

"Andrew," he exclaimed, happy to see a friendly face, "What's going-"

"I don't have time," he said, and in Klingon, too, "Listen, Xander, there's some weird stuff going on upstairs. Buffy's trading a bunch of our mages for a ton of bombs, some of which I know are illegal in this country."

"She's getting bombs," he expressed his doubt, in Klingon, knowing that Andrew wanted him to speak that way for security, "Why?"

"I don't know, though I have a guess," he answered, "But, that's not all. She's also called in a large number of Slayers, just a few hours ago. I think she's getting ready for something."

"…How's Jesse," he asked.

"He's fine," Andrew said, "But, Xander, I've already gone to Giles with all this, and he doesn't know what to do. We've got a serious situation on our hands here."

"…The best thing you can do," Xander said, "Is to monitor the situation as best as you can and, if you find out what they're going to do, try and alert whoever you can."

"Alright," Andrew agreed, "That was what I was going to do anyway. Man, I'm scared. I thought Slayers were the GOOD guys."

"I know, Andrew," Xander muttered, "Me, too. But, man, you can do this. You know you can."

"Time's up," the Slayers yelled, "Get out."

"…I'll come by after I get more info," Andrew promised, "Keep safe, man."

"You, too," he said, "Even more."

§◙§

"Are we ready," Buffy asked.

"Yes, Ma'am," the multitude of Slayers responded en masse.

"Good," she turned to their mages, who were lead by Willow, all of them staring forward in a daze, "You know what to do?"

They all nodded their heads.

"Do it," she instructed.

§◙§

The United States; Near Fayetteville, North Carolina; Fort Bragg; September 29th, 2016: 

Specialist Andre Corbett marched along with his squad, moving with a steadiness and unity that perfectly defined their roles as the best the United States military had to offer. As he marched, he caught sight of something he'd never thought he'd see on base.

A female, dressed in civilian garments, standing smack dab in the center of the base.

"Halt," he ordered his squad, and he fell out and walked over to her, "Can I help you, Ma'am?"

She just smiled at him and said, "Pulsus."

After that, he, and everyone else at Fort Bragg, knew no more.

§◙§

**The Kingdom of Belgium; Brussels; North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:**

Secretary General Theodore Haricot, born in the United Kingdom, watched with a grimace as the representatives of two warring countries, France and Italy, attempted to settle their differences through peaceful diplomacy, only to have it stop short by their own egos. He sighed, this was the part of the job he hated…dealing with bureaucratic idiots who thought their interests were more important than their country's interests.

The conversation came to an abrupt stop, however, and Theodore looked up to see what the trouble was.

Standing in the middle of the room was a young girl, not even over sixteen. She stood there with a suitcase in her hands.

"Oh, my God," the representative from Russia gasped out, "It's a bomb!"

Security forces pounced at that, previously having been frozen due to her sudden appearance, but, it was too late. She had already armed the weapon and all she had to do was press the button that would detonate it.

"God have mercy on us," he muttered, and those were his last words before his body, and the bodies of everyone in Brussels, were incinerated.

§◙§

**International Waters; The _U.S.S. Ronald Reagan_ (CVN-76); September 29th, 2016:**

"Captain," a young lieutenant called out, "We've got something on radar."

Captain Joseph Thornbury turned away from the computers on the bridge and looked over at the young officer, asking, "What is it, son?"

"It's a small plane, Sir," he responded, "Just off the port bow. I wouldn't have brought it up, but, it's abnormally low in altitude."

"Hmm…probably just some civilians wanting to get a closer look at the ship," the Captain muttered, "Well, let's be on the safe side. Hail them."

"Aye, Sir," the lieutenant went over to communications and began to call out along the waves.

§◙§

"I don't like this," Don said as he flew in a bit closer to the _Reagan_, "The Navy doesn't like planes flying this low or this close to their ships."

"I figured that," Dana said to him, "But, I just know we need to stick around here."

"…You're getting me off the hook," Don muttered, "Guess that means you're in charge."

§◙§

Petty Officer Chuck Roberts had been in the Navy a good six years now, and still loved it. His job aboard the _Reagan_, or, as many of its crew liked to call it, the _Gipper_, was to guide incoming aircraft along the flight deck safely, ensuring that they came in to the elevators with minimal fuss. He did his job well, and was looking at a promotion to Chief Petty Officer next year. He wouldn't normally have that kind of rank, but, he was in good with his CO and XO thanks to his meritorious achievements (he'd been involved in some air rescues, and had saved an officer from going overboard during a hurricane).

He was guiding in an F/A-18 to the elevators when he saw it. First, there was nothing, then, within the amount of time it took him to blink, there was a girl standing there. She had a satchel slung around her shoulder.

"Hey," he shouted out as the elevator took the aircraft down, "What do you think you're doing here?"

§◙§

"It's happening," Dana whispered.

Don looked at her oddly, completely confused with what she was talking about. Then, it happened.

A blast erupted from the flight deck of the _U.S.S Reagan_, spitting out debris from the ship, the aircraft, the personnel, everything.

"OH, SHIT," he yelled, "HANG ON!"

He pulled up and to the right as fast as he could, hoping to avoid the falling mountain of debris that was sure to rain on him.

§◙§

**The United States; New York City, New York; The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum; September 29th, 2016:**

"Mayday, mayday, mayday," Arthur King said into the radio as his plane began a rapid decent, "I'm going down here! _Intrepid_, I'm going to try and land on your deck, over."

"Negative," the response came back, "Aircraft are still on the flight deck."

"Look, I'm falling out of the sky here," he yelled, "You're closed for the day, and I'm small enough to land there. If I don't land there, I'll have to land in the harbor, and that could kill someone!"

A pause came, and his descent began to increase as gravity took its hold over him.

"…You're cleared for landing," the _Intrepid_ responded, "I hope you have a good reason why you're crashing."

"Me, too," Arthur muttered and he tried to bring his plane in for a landing, hoping against hope that this worked.

After a little more than five seconds, his plane was within a foot of the ship and he was trying to land steadily. He knew he would crash, but, he hoped to survive it. As he hit, he felt the plane shudder and scream in protest to the hard deck. He heard, and felt, the tire bars snap under the pressure, and he fell even closer to the deck.

That made Arthur sigh in relief. It meant that there was more friction to help him stop before he fell off the other side.

Then, there was someone in his way…a girl. Arthur shouted out and tried to get her to move, but, the plane was going to fast.

It rammed into her, and the propeller embedded its blades into her chest and waist.

§◙§

A/N: If anyone thinks that I would have the Slayers willingly do this, then, I am kindly asking those that do to BUGGER OFF!


	6. Chapter 6

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

§◙§

International Waters; The _U.S.S. Ronald Reagan _(CVN-76); September 29th, 2016: 

Dana held on for dear life as Don tried his best to maneuver through the hail of metal that was raining down from above, like some kind of holy scourge sent down to punish them.

"SHIT, SHIT, SHIT," Donald kept repeating as he guided their aircraft through the rain. She really couldn't blame him for being scared…she was, too.

After a few more moments, the hail ended and the debris settled down into the water below. The _Ronald_ _Reagan_ was still afloat, barely, with a gigantic hole inside its starboard side. How it was keeping afloat, she had no idea but, that didn't really matter. The odds were that it would sink soon, so, they had to move quickly.

"Land," she ordered.

"What," Don asked incredulously, "Hell no! That thing is coming down soon and, when it does, it'll pull us and everyone nearby under."

"We need to try and save as many people as we can, Don," she insisted.

"…We wait till it goes under," he stated, "I'm not chancing losing our only way out of here, girl. But, I will land at, what I believe, is a safe range. Once I'm down, I'll send word out on every frequency that this has happened."

"…Don," he looked at her, "What can do that to a ship?"

"…I don't know," he stated honestly, "Maybe its ammunition blew up, but, I don't think so. Can you see the way the carrier dents inward," she could, a large piece of it was dipping inward off the flight deck, it didn't take mystically increased eyesight to see it, "That only happens with an outside explosion. An explosion inside would have the shards going outward. I'm not sure, but, I don't think that any of the planes on the flight deck had that kind of firepower."

Dana sighed in despair. She had been too late.

§◙§

The United States; 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, D.C.; The White House; September 29th, 2016: 

The President of the United States looked up from his paperwork immediately as his door was violently opened and a swarm of armed Secret Service agents stormed the office.

"Mr. President," Edwards, his lead Secret Service agent, started before he could even utter a sentence, "This way, Sir. Follow us."

"What is this," the President demanded, "What's going on?"

Edwards shoved a packet of paper into his hands and said, "Read that as soon as we get you to your helicopter, Sir."

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016: 

Andrew looked through the satellite imaging with a frown on his face. He was trying to see if anything apparent could lead to him determining what they were doing. He was currently over the Indian ocean and was heading for African coast, which was very close on the chart, when his eyes caught sight of something…and he dropped his glass in shock.

He was looking at a ship. It was military, that much he could tell. It wasn't American, maybe European but, that didn't matter. What mattered was that it was beached along some huge rocks off the African coast, with a gigantic hole in its bow.

"My God," he muttered in disbelief.

He ran through a few areas that he knew to be heavy with military vessels, and found them all filled with wrecked ships.

_This can't be coincidence,_ he decided.

Thinking quickly, he shut down his computer and left his office. He ran out of the HQ and into the parking lot. As soon as he was in his car, he was racing out to the borders of London. He had to see Giles immediately.

§◙§

The United States; Los Angeles, California; The Hyperion Hotel; September 29th, 2016: 

"Something's happening," Illyria muttered as she took a seat in the lobby.

"What," Groo came swiftly to her and sat down by her side, "What's wrong?"

"…I don't," Illyria focused all her mind on the feeling she was having and, as soon as it became clear, she screamed in pain.

"HELP," Groo shouted out as loud as he could, and Connor and Deirdre ran in as fast as they could.

"What's wrong," Connor asked.

"…Deirdre," the Marine looked down at her friend in fear, wondering what was happening to make her act this way, "I'm so sorry…for what's happened to your people."

Deirdre went pale…she knew what she meant by that. Something had happened…something involving the military.

"…How many died," Deirdre asked.

"…Too many to tell," Illyria said, "I've never felt so many people die."

"How can you even feel it," Connor asked.

"…I don't know," she admitted.

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Private Mansion, owned by Rupert Giles; September 29th, 2016: 

"…My God," the aging Watcher Head said in disbelief, "You say she's behind all this?"

"Yes, Sir," Andrew stated, "I know it's hard to accept, Mr. Giles, but…it's the truth."

"…I'm going to issue an order," Rupert Giles stated, "For Xander to be moved to the mansion."

"Sir, if you do that, it could bring Buffy down against you," Andrew informed him, "And all your guards are Slayers. That's asking for far too much trouble, Sir."

"I'm aware of my staff and the amount of trouble it could bring on me, Andrew," Giles reminded him, "That's why I plan to play this right. If I can convince them that I am just trying to ascertain why he killed two Slayers, then I should be able to keep them thinking that I'm not even worth taking out."

"If Xander escapes while he's here, they **will** kill you, Sir," Andrew stated.

"Xander is the only person that, at the moment, has any chance of taking what we know to anyone who can do something about it. I hate to tell you, Andrew, but you're not exactly in military shape."

"No, I understand," Andrew said, "The military wouldn't believe me. They don't know anything about me, except that I was arrested for murder. Xander's one of their own, though, and Colonel Finn knows him personally. They would believe him."

"Besides, you'd be more useful in the Council," Rupert told him, "Get Xander here, and I'll insure that he escapes."

"…Rupert, you will die if you do this," Andrew pleaded.

"I know," Rupert sighed, "But, it's a price I'm willing to pay."

§◙§

Outside his office, a Slayer was leaning against the wall, with a cell phone up to her ear.

"They want you to bring Harris into his mansion," she said, "They want to spring him. Wells has been doing research on this…he knows a lot, but not everything. What are your orders?"

"…Monitor Giles," a voice said, "I'll be by after I deal with Wells."

"Yes, Ma'am."

§◙§

International Waters; September 29th, 2016: 

"Thanks," Don put the radio down and turned to Dana, "Alright, there's a cruise liner about an hour away. They'll pick up what survivors they can. As for us, I'm going to pull in and pick up what survivors I can. Go into the back, there's a small packet back there. It's an inflatable raft. Get it out."

Dana nodded and unfastened her belt and went into the back as Don started the plane up and moved towards the wreck. She searched around for a moment until she found it. She grabbed it and went back up to her seat and waited as the plane approached the site. They could see several sailors in the water, some signaling them…others, just lying there.

"Don't look at them," Don warned her but, it was alright. She'd seen worse in her dreams.

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016: 

Andrew pulled into his spot with a sigh, hoping that Giles's plan worked out. As he shut his car down, he sat back in his seat, wishing that things could just be simple again. He hadn't had to deal with this much stress since…well, since the First. He looked up and gasped as he saw the one thing he'd feared.

Two Slayers were walking towards him, an intense look in their eyes.

"They know," Andrew muttered.

He ducked down.

§◙§

"Come on out, Andrew," Cynthia demanded, "We know you're in that car."

They were standing just bit away from his vehicle, trying to do this as easily as possible. Neither her, nor her partner, Julia, were in the mood to deal with a struggling nerd.

"Come out, kid," Julia said, "We won't rough you up if you don't."

He didn't come out.

"Ugh," Cynthia muttered, "Fine. Let's go get him."

"I hate this part of the job," Julia responded.

The two lazy Slayers moved forward to go and get the man but, when they could see the inside of the car…they found it empty.

"…Invisible," Julia stated.

Cynthia nodded and reached down into the vehicle, trying to find where he was. She wouldn't.

§◙§

Andrew sighed in relief as his teleportation spell worked. He found himself inside his office, exactly where he had meant to be. As soon as he got his bearings, he ducked down beneath his desk and pulled out his cell phone.

"…Hello," Giles's voice came over.

"It's Andrew, Sir," he said, "They know. They just tried to grab me."

"Oh, dear," Rupert responded, he could hear the worry in his voice, "…What do you plan to do?"

"I've got a safe house," Andrew informed him, "I'll get Xander out and head there, see if I can get in touch with the other Watchers."

"No," the Council Head said, "Listen, unknown to the Slayers, I've been getting emails from the Head Watchers overseas. I haven't received one for days now, and I know they would have responded to a few emails I sent out already. My guess is the Slayers already have control over them."

"But, we've received voice messages from the Head Watchers," Andrew argued, "…They must be keeping them alive for the reports."

"What I want to know is why they haven't taken over the London base yet," Giles stated.

"I don't know," Andrew looked up over the desk and saw, thankfully, that no one was looking for him yet, "Listen, I gotta go. I won't have enough time."

"I understand," Giles told him, "Good luck."

"Thanks," he hung up.

He began to save all his files onto a disk and, as he did that, he began a spell to temporarily bring down the HQ's magical defense net, just long enough for him to get Xander and him out. Once the spell was completed, he put the container holding the powder into his jacket, knowing that the powder would have to be released before the defenses would go down.

As soon as that was done, he prepared the spell to teleport them out. He had all the ingredients in a bowl and just needed to add the right amount for it to send the two away. He set up a dripper, filled with the last ingredient, venom, that would give him about…twelve minutes to get Xander out. He typed the incantation into his computer, including both his and Xander's names in it, so the spell would know to send them away, and no one else.

As soon as it was done, he grabbed the disk and a gun and raced out the room.

§◙§

**The United States:**

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States."

Across the nation, thousands of people were watching as the President took a seat, unbeknownst to them, in an underground bunker, one of the many secret ones which had survived the attacks.

"…My fellow Americans," the President, as many other Presidents before him, began, "I have learned that, earlier today, a series of attacks against military centers has occurred across the globe. These attacks are not just against America, but against every nation on Earth. Every American base, be it Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine, has been, effectively, wiped from the face of the Earth. Our Navy has been completely destroyed, with no ships left. This is the same situation which all our brethren nations, friendly or not, share today.

"…" the President had to take a moment to control his emotions as they were, "…I feel a great deal of sorrow for the loss of so many fine people, be they American or of any other nationality. I…do not know how this happened, but, I am here today to tell you that…whoever did this has failed in their efforts. They meant to cause fear and terror, to cause chaos and disorder. Well…they failed. Today, I have spoken with representatives from many of the bereaved countries and…we have decided that the time has come to band together. We are being threatened, all of us, by an unknown force. We **will** come together to defeat these people, and we **will** win the day. They **will** pay for what they have done."

He stopped in his speech at that moment. He stared forward for a moment, then, slumped over onto the table.

§◙§

The United States; Boston, Massachusetts; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016: 

"Red's spell worked, B," Faith said into her cell phone, "The Chief just kicked the bucket, along with Congress."

"Same here, Faith," Buffy said over the line, "The PM and Parliament just died."

"What about the Royal Family," she asked.

"We don't give a damn about them," Buffy said, "All they are's figure heads. They mean nothing to the government. What about Dana, have you found her?"

"No," Faith stated, "I wonder how she's resisting."

"Doesn't matter, she's dangerous to us. Kill her on sight."

"Right," Faith responded.


	7. Chapter 7

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016: 

Andrew ran down the hall as quickly as possible, knowing full well that time was against him. He checked his watch quickly and found that he only have six minutes left. He would have more time, but, he'd had to avoid the Slayers on his way.

As he descended the stairs that led to Xander's private cell, he gripped his Glock tighter, knowing that now he would have to do something that he'd swore he'd never do again…take a life…two, even. He couldn't do this on his own, he needed help. And, as of that moment, no one on Earth, save one man, had more experience with Slayers. Andrew knew he was important, and one of the only people capable of solving this.

As he came to the doorway, he opened fire, catching the two Slayers off guard. His first shot landed home, striking one of the Slayers in her stomach, whilst his second missed completely, leaving the second Slayer unharmed. Before he could fire again, however, a hand snaked out and grabbed the girl's neck, pulling her into the door. Her air supply was cut off and, as she struggled, Andrew surged forward and blasted a round into her chest. The girl slumped forward, dead on impact.

"Andrew, what's happened," Xander asked from behind the door.

"Every Navy ship and military base on Earth's been destroyed, Xander," Andrew said while he fished for the keys, "Not just ours', but every countries'. Buffy sent Slayers with bombs on suicide runs."

"…How," Xander asked, "There's no way in Hell we could have had enough."

"Records have been showing spikes in Slayer activation every six months," Andrew said, "My guess is that a bunch got activated especially for this occasion."

"…How," he asked again, and Andrew stood with the keys in hand, "No one on Earth can control Slayer activation, not after Willow did that spell."

"She may have done it again," Andrew said as he unlocked the door and stepped aside to allow Xander out, "I don't know, nor do I care at the moment. We need to leave, ASAP."

"Right," Xander nodded in agreement, "Wait…the building's probably under lockdown right now. How're we going to get out?"

"In about," he looked at his watch, "One minute. For now…we run."

§◙§

International Waters; September 29th, 2016: 

Gunnery Sergeant Cole Thompson grabbed onto the outstretched arm gratefully and felt himself pulled up with surprising ease as the girl set him down on the seaplane's pontoon.

"Here," the girl handed him a small cup filled with water, "Fresh water. Are you injured?"

"No, Ma'am," he replied, "…Thank you, Ma'am. I don't know what we would have done without you."

"Can you tell me what happened," the girl asked.

"…I was on the flight deck when it happened," he said, "Behind an F-15. That's the thing that saved me. None of the bomb's blast hit me, and the plane protected me from shrapnel. It did force me overboard, though. I didn't see how it happened, but, I did hear someone shout 'what are you doing here?' My guess is that has something to do with it."

"…Here," she handed him a piece of candy, "Get some energy back."

"Thank you, Ma'am," he took it gratefully.

§◙§

The United States; Los Angeles, California; The Hyperion Hotel; September 29th, 2016: 

"International death tolls have breached the ten million mark, and is climbing by the minute. Our affiliates in Belgium have reported that Brussels, the country's capital and the center for the NATO Headquarters, has been destroyed by a nuclear device. Our worst fears have been realized…nuclear war by some unknown party has thrown the Earth into chaos, mass assassinations have claimed every member of all the world's governments, from the corrupt to the honorable.

"And, as of yet, no one has discovered who is responsible for these attacks-"

"The Slayers," Sondra said as she cut off the television, "It's the Slayers."

"…I don't believe it," Connor said, "Dad always looked up to them, believed in them."

"No," Illyria countered, "He believed in the one he called 'Buffy,' he dismissed all other Slayers, save Faith."

"Besides, it makes sense," Sondra continued, "It would explain why I couldn't see what their future held. They'd be able to keep their destinies from me, though I don't know how."

"I agree with Connor," Groo voiced, "The Slayers are warriors of goodness, honor, justice…they are not savages who kill without reason."

"I agree with him," Illyria said, "They did not kill without a reason."

"…They know about us," Jerome said.

"No, they don't," Connor disagreed, "We've never worked with them before. They can't know of us."

"But, they can," Illyria countered, "We have a reputation…they will have learned of us within the establishment of their bunker and, if not, Buffy knows of us."

"…We need to relocate," Deirdre stated, her voice dead of all emotion.

"Pylea," Sondra suggested, "There are only a few ways there, and no one aside from us and Oz knows about it."

"…I don't know, Sondra," Connor said, "I mean, we'd have to keep an eye on Earth…I mean, this didn't happen just because…there's a reason behind it."

"Isn't it obvious," Deirdre said, "They're trying to conquer the world."

An uneasy silence spread across the room as they all considered this.

§◙§

The United Kingdom; London, England; Watcher's Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016: 

Xander ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He was exhausted from his detainment, but, he knew he had to do this. A lot more than just his life depended on this. From what Andrew had told him, he was one of only three people on Earth who knew anything about what was going on.

"Take that corner," he advised and Andrew, who was a few feet ahead of him, turned down it, only to stop and turn back, "Slayers?"

"Yep," Andrew screamed, and Xander turned to follow him, only to stop again…there was a singular Slayer there, one they both knew very well.

"Well, look what we have here," Buffy said with a smirk, "Two jailbirds, trying to flee the cops."

"Great, a Slayer with a bad sense of humor," Xander muttered, "Wait…that's what you always were."

"Leave them, girls," they both turned around to find that three more Slayers had come up from their rear, "I'll deal with them."

"Andrew," Xander growled, "Give me that gun."

Andrew shook violently but, nodded, and moved the weapon over to his reach. Before Xander could grab it, however, Buffy had already begun moving, much faster than they could have prepared for. Then, something wonderful…and terrible happened.

Jesse jumped out of nowhere, latching onto Buffy's arm. She screamed in pain and rage and began to fight the dog off. She landed a solid punch against his skull, and he was sent flying into the wall. Xander heard it crack as his friend hit it and slid down, falling to the ground with a painful whimper.

"NO," he shouted and charged forward, firing the pistol off as he did so, but, it was too late…he and Andrew were lifted away and off to safety.


	8. Chapter 8

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:**

"Track them down," Buffy ordered as a mage healed her minor wound, "Find where they went, and bring them before me. And bring me Giles…he knew of this."

She turned her attention to the wall for a moment.

"And have someone clean up this mess," she motioned to the shriveled body of the animal that had attacked her, then, the Slayer turned and moved down the hallway, intent on having revenge.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; Private address of Rupert Giles; September 29****th****, 2016:**

"Mr. Giles," she called into his office, gripping her club tightly as she prepared herself, "You have a phone call."

No response came.

"…Mr. Giles, is everything alright," she asked, putting all the concern she could into her voice.

Without waiting for a response, she opened the office door and went inside. No one was there, it was merely an empty office.

"What," she asked in confusion…then, her whole world lit up.

Literally.

§◙§

Rupert emerged from behind his desk as his spell took place. He acted quickly and left his office with only a small book in his possession, one that he was sure would play a role in the future.

He slinked along the hallway quickly and, upon getting to the desired wall, muttered a spell and pulled back the portrait of a Slayer from the eighteenth century, revealing a passageway that had not been in existence since the Second World War.

He crawled through the small space, making sure to shut the portrait along the way, and made his way out towards the garden near the manor's property line. By the time he had emerged from the bushes where the other end of the passage was hidden, the Slayers that had been standing guard had already been recalled to help in the search for Giles.

He quickly made his way off the manor, and into the nearby forest, where he hoped to make his way to London.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; underground apartment rented by 'Data Fett'; September 29****th****, 2016:**

"NNNNOOOO," Xander raged as his feet hit solid ground, and he collapsed to his knees from pure exhaustion, the fatigue that had been forgotten through the rush of adrenaline and the death of his friend quickly catching up to him.

Andrew, meanwhile, quickly moved deeper into the room and activated his computer. Using the back window that he had set up, he monitored the situation from his desktop as Buffy began issuing new orders.

"What do you mean, you can't find them," the blonde Slayer was yelling at a dazed-looking Willow, who simply stayed quiet, not knowing how to answer the question.

"Try again, damn it," the Slayer bellowed, "And find Giles. He escaped, too."

Andrew smiled in joy upon hearing that his friend had escaped alive. He knew that the old Watcher had one left in him.

"G-Man made it out," he turned to see Xander, apparently having regained control of himself, standing above him with a look of resentment on his face.

"Yep," Andrew told him, "…I'm sorry about-"

"It's alright," Xander told him with a sigh, "…Andrew, can this thing hack into any government satellites?"

"Assuming we can get to any, definitely," the computer expert agreed, "What're we looking for?"

"Colonel Finn's cell phone," Xander said, handing him the number of the phone, "See what you can do."

"I'll have him up within the hour," Andrew told him, "Maybe you can be working on some new ID's for us?"

"I don't think they'll be needed anymore, Andrew," Xander said with a sigh.

"…No," he admitted, "Probably not."

§◙§

**International Waters; September 29th, 2016:**

"Ok, we got everyone packed up," Don said as he closed the cabin door and started up the plane, "I'm getting us back to the States."

"NO," the Slayer objected, "We had a deal!"

"I don't give a shit," Don told her angrily, "The world, the whole God damned WORLD, was just attacked, bitch!! You really think I give a shit about some damn sexual harassment charges!!?"

Instead of answering, Dana just slammed her fist into his head, effectively sending him into the land of the dark. Shoving him into the back, she climbed into the pilot's seat and, listening carefully to the voices in her head, started the plane up and lifted off from the water.

With that, she began to make her way to coordinates 32 degrees North, 5 degrees West.

§◙§

**The Land of the Rising Sun; Tokyo; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 29th, 2016:**

Dawn bit her lip as she tried to lift herself off the ground, only to fail for the fifth time that day after she'd had enough strength to do so. As of yet, she'd barely even managed to get herself into a sitting position (doing that alone was difficult enough). Granted, she had no idea what she would do after being capable of standing but, she knew it was better than just sitting there and…thinking.

All her mind was filled with questions.

Why were they doing this?

What was it, exactly, they were doing?

What happened to Buffy? Willow? Xander?

And, why hadn't they enslaved or killed her like the others?

There were only two conclusions that automatically came to mind, aside from that bullshit they fed her about needing her to sound human.

One was that they wanted to use her for something that she couldn't do in a trance, or dead, though she had no idea what.

The other…was a bit more frightening.

A banging on the door alerted her to the person on the other side.

"Chow," the Slayer tossed the Hungry Man dinner into her cell, which she took and ate (only a quarter, opting to save the rest if needed).

All the while, that one possibility plagued her thoughts.

Buffy wanted her alive.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; underground apartment rented by 'Data Fett'; September 29****th****, 2016:**

"Xander, I've found him," the young man leapt up from his seat and raced over to Andrew's computer, which had a map of Nevada on it, "He's in the middle of the desert."

"…That's gotta be Area 51," Xander muttered, "Or Area 19. One of those two has got to be where that prison he mentioned was."

"I thought Area 51 was where the Aurora jet and aliens were kept," Andrew asked timidly.

"Oh, that's where the Aurora originated," Xander commented dryly, remembering having seen the vehicle itself, "Aliens…none have ever set foot on that base. Now, in California, they definitely have."

"Really," Andrew asked, amazed that Xander could possibly know such a thing.

"Sure," he said with a sigh, "What do you think demons invading from a different plane are?"

Andrew slouched at that, his mind dulled with disappointment.

"Can you hack into their computers," Xander asked.

"Already did," Andrew informed him, "I've got a patch set up for you. They haven't detected me yet, but, that's no surprise, given the circumstances. Take this time to write up a report to send to the Colonel."

Xander nodded in agreement and sat down at a computer to do just that.

§◙§

**The United States; Nevada; Secret Military Instillation, codenamed 'Area 51'; September 29****th****, 2016:**

Sergeant Andrew Masterson watched his screen with a definitive sigh. He, like nearly every other military man, or woman, in the world, was in a state of perpetual grief, mixed in with rage unlike any he had ever felt before.

He wanted vengeance.

But, for now, he was confined to this chair, watching over the base's computer systems…a glorified baby-sitter.

Suddenly, an alarm blared on his computer, and his screen instantly switched over to an online instant message system.

Colonel Riley Finn, U.S. Army. Get him.

It was signed by a man named Harris at He stared at the message for a moment, confused, baffled, and basically wigged about someone sending a message for a man who, technically, didn't exist anymore.

After a second, that puzzlement gaze way as his training took over. He set to work on tracing whoever it was that was playing them, along with alerting his station officer of what was happening…only to be interrupted as another message came over the line.

Get him…before it's too late.

That made him come up short. Deciding that it may end up being worth the court-martial, he picked up his phone and hit the number for the PA system.

"Colonel Finn, please report to comms station alpha eight niner."

§◙§

Agent Riley Finn ran down the hallway as fast as he could. At first, he had been under the impersonation that there was a message from his wife, who had been aboard the submarine _Alexandria _during the attacks. But, as he ran down the hallway, he heard rumors that it was a message from an outsider who had somehow gained access to the base's computers.

That had made him continue at his pace, setting a record for navigating the base.

Upon his arrival, he hastily stopped as he came to the base's CO, Major General Robert Sinclair, and came to attention, rendering a salute to the General.

"Colonel Finn reporting as ordered, Sir," he barked out, and the General returned that salute.

"At east," Riley immediately relaxed and waited on more, "Who is Harris?"

That question made him stand up straighter.

"Harris, Sir," he asked.

"Yes," the General told him, "He's the one who hacked into our base, and he's asking specifically for _you_. You have something you wanna share, son?"

"The Harris I know is a Marine," he told his superior, "If he's contacting us, it means he knows something about the bombings."

That brought the General up short.

"…Get on that damn thing and find out what the Hell is going on," the General barked out, eager as all of them to get some pay-back on the cretins who 86ed them.

"Yes, Sir," Riley said, and he took a seat at the station and hastily typed in a code that would prove whether it was Xander or not.

§◙§

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:Who's not the Dark Prince's Me. Who's head got bashed in by a dead boy?

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:…Mine. Asswipe. Damn straight, Corny. How's it going?

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:…Don't know if S. made it out. She was on the _Alexandria_ when the bombings happened, and we don't know if subs were hit yet. We haven't received any communications, so, we're assuming the worst. Sorry to hear that. …Look, I got something to share with you, and…well, you aren't gonna believe it. But, I need you to trust me on this one. Marine to Army, Jarhead to Grunt, Friend to Friend. Can you do that?

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:…You've never let me down, Trippy, so…I'll go along with you on this one.'Trippy?' What the Hell does that mean?

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:'I trip over my own feet.' Or would you prefer 'Drac's Man-Bitch?' …That's low, man. Real low.  LMAO-NOT!!!

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:'LMAO-NOT?' What's that all …It's sad when I know more about this techno garble than the Army does. Anyway, moving on, I'm sending it over now. You secure?

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:We're all squared, here. OK. Email me back whenever you get in touch with your superiors…if you have any left.

rfinna51.gov/account/lilac:Will do. Tell Buffy I said 'Hey.'

USER HAS LOGGED OFF

§◙§

"Colonel, what do you have," the General asked Riley about fifteen minutes later.

"…No," Riley muttered in disbelief, "It's…not possible."

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; underground apartment rented by 'Data Fett'; September 29****th****, 2016:**

"Think he'll buy it," Andrew asked as he and Xander packed up what gear they needed.

"I hope so, but, I'm not holding my breath," Xander told him as he grabbed a few guns from Andrew's locker and loaded them into his pocket, "Alright, it's nighttime. We wait till Giles gets here, then, we head for my place in the docks."

"Right," Andrew said, looking around his safe house another time before asking, "We cleared everything out, right?"

"Yeah," Xander told him, "…You're sure Giles would head here, right?"

"He knows about my safe house," Andrew said with some confidence, "…At least, I think he does."

Xander rolled his eyes and settled in, knowing that the wait was going to go on for quite a while.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; Kingsley Docks; September 30****th****, 2016:**

Dana pulled into the dock with a relieved sigh. It had been quite the challenge, flying this vehicle all by herself, but, it had been a success. Now that she was where she needed to be, she just had to figure out what her next move was.

_Weapons_, her instinct told her.

She looked over at the docks, then back at her plane…coming to a quick decision, she ran back to the plane and began to unload.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; underground apartment rented by 'Data Fett'; September 30th, 2016:**

Xander watched with a cold eye as a figure emerged from the darkness. He knew that silhouette anywhere.

"Here," he handed his gun off to Andrew and went forward to help Giles down the hallway.

"Xander," the Englishman greeted him, happily accepting the aid that the young man was offering down the stairs.

"Morning, G-Man," he wrapped his arm around the older man's, "How's your first day as a fugitive been?"

"Better than anything Harrison Ford could come up with," Giles said, only to have his quip fall upon deaf ears, "…Really, Xander, you must start watching something aside from Saturday morning cartoons."

"Hey," Xander said, somewhat offended by that comment, "I watch other stuff."

"I don't think the adult's channel counts here, Xander," Andrew said with a smile.

"Shut up, Andrew," Xander scolded his friend, "Help me get this tub of lard inside, then, we'll…"

"What," Andrew asked upon seeing his friend's confused look.

"Why is that rock glowing yellow," Xander asked, knowing that it couldn't be anything good.

Andrew turned around and, quite uncharacteristically, cursed, saying, "They've broken through my barrier. They found us."

"Great," Xander muttered, "Up we go."

§◙§

"Well," Giles asked, "Now what?"

"We requisition a vehicle," Xander stated, scanning the streets like a window-shopper.

"Xander," Andrew tugged on his shirt like a little kid and pointed down the street.

"…Oh, this is too good," Xander said with a grin.

§◙§

"I don't know why you had to pick this vehicle when there was a perfectly good Citron down the road," Giles yelled over the roar of the motorcycle whose side cart he was currently occupying.

"This thing saves us about two hours, and can outrun a Slayer," Xander told his friend as Andrew gripped his backside, "Unlike that rust bucket, which I am convinced was yours."

Giles gained a thoughtful look and said, "Well, now that you mention it-"

"Xand, they're behind us," Andrew called, a frightened quiver in his voice.

The former Zeppo looked in his mirror and cursed as he saw two SUVs speeding after them.

"Shoot them, damn it," Xander yelled.

He quickly got out his extra pistol and handed it to Giles, while Andrew pulled out his own, and the duo worked together to try and bring down their pursuers.

"Try and hit the tires," Giles shouted.

"Andrew, aim for the driver," Xander countered, "The two of you working together on two different fronts is better than both of you wasting bullets and not hitting anything."

Andrew nodded, getting where he was coming from. He was certain that it was Buffy driving the first vehicle, considering that the SUV was swerving in and out of the lane with seemingly no cause as to why.

Andrew and Giles both lined up their shots and opened fired.

§◙§

**The United Kingdom; London, England; Kingsley Docks; September 30****th****, 2016:**

Dana loaded the plane up with the extra gas that she had been able to get with what was in Don's wallet, along with a Colt .45, bought under the table, seeing as guns were illegal in this country. She had dumped Don inside the dock's owner's cabin, where he sold crap to anyone who could buy. It had cost the pilot an arm and a leg but, it was better than sleeping on the dock for the night.

Of course, she didn't know that the man also happened to be a cannibal. Tough break.

What she had known, though, was that people firing guns were coming this way and, if the voices in her head were to be believed, a large number of her former brethren were currently en route to her location.

Counting on the people firing the guns being friendlies, the wayward Slayer started up the plane and prepared for a tactical retreat.

§◙§

A few moments later, a motorcycle with a cart sped down the dock, followed closely by an SUV with several bullet holes in the front window, along with one in the grill. The second one had been, interestingly, taken out by a shot from Giles to the tires.

"I told you, aim for the tires," Giles commented as he popped off another shot.

"Shut up and shoot," Xander yelled, cutting off Andrew's response.

The two resumed firing just as Xander turned a corner, coming to the part of the docks where a plane flown by a formerly insane girl was housed. Said girl was, at that time, waving them over and shouting at them to get aboard.

Xander, seeing it as a possible escape route, slammed on the breaks and quickly dismounted the vehicle.

"MOVE," he shouted with all his might.

Andrew jumped off the back, miraculously just avoiding landing in the water. Giles, meanwhile, had leapt out of the vehicle and directly into the water.

The Slayer's SUV rammed into the cycle at full speed, and continued to move forward for a good ten seconds before it finally came to a stop.

"Hurry up," Dana shouted at them.

"Andrew, get Giles into the plane," he picked up both the forsaken weapons and began popping off shots at the SUV as people emerged from it.

They, in turn, responded with crossbow bolts. Fortunately, they stood no chance as Xander easily shot the crossbows into a thousand pieces before they could finish loading the second round. He put two bullets into the bodies of two different Slayers and turned his head for a split second to check on Andrew and Giles, both of whom were now entering the plane.

His moment of distraction proved to be costly as a thunderous blow landed against his skull, forcing him to drop like a steel weight. He blinked the stars out of his vision as he faced up towards the current bane of his existence.

"Exactly where you need to be," Buffy sneered at him, a look of sheer contempt written all over her face, "On the ground, at the feet of a Slayer. You're so pathetic, Xander. You can't compete with us, so you turn against us. That's cowardice, you fool; or, maybe in your case, just stupidity."

Xander growled and raised his gun up to Buffy, a clear shot at the space between her two eyes easily coming into his focus.

"Go ahead," she snickered at him, "Shoot me. Go on, Xander; you know you want to rip my heart out. Do you still think I think of you as a big brother, keeping me out of the sandbox?"

That statement caused him to come up short in what he had planned on being a killing moment.

_How could she know that_, Xander thought, realizing that it had to be more than coincidence.

His hesitation cost him as she easily kicked the gun out of his hand, then, reached down and pulled him up to her face.

"You never learn, do you, Xander," she asked him, "You just can't compete with us Slayers."

He looked into her eyes, and was not surprised by what he saw…there was nothing left, nothing of the Buffy he had once known, not even the one that she had become after her second resurrection…she was hollow inside. She pulled back her fist, readying herself for the killing blow and Xander, all too aware of what the consequences would be, sighed and awaited the inevitable.

Instead, a bolt of lightning fell from the heavens in the form of a hot piece of lead as a bullet embedded itself into Buffy's abdomen.

Everyone stared at the fallen Slayer in shock before turning their attention to the one who had pulled the trigger.

Dana glared at her from the behind the smoking barrel and said, "You're not the Slayer…none of you are anymore."

She looked up at the other Slayers, all of whom were now positively radiating fear upon seeing their leader fall so easily.

"…Get to the plane," she ordered, and Xander found himself obeying her order with no thoughts otherwise, his momentary weakness regarding Buffy easily forgotten in the shot.

Dana watched her former sisters for a second more before turning away from them and boarding her plane. All they could do was watch as it took off into the night sky.


	9. Chapter 9

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

§◙§

**The English Channel; Halfway between Great Britain and France; September 30****th****, 2016:**

"So, you escaped from Faith's base, forced a pilot to take you to Britain, helped the survivors of the _Reagan_, and made it in time to help us out of London," Andrew asked, more than a little amazed.

"Well, I did have to knock the pilot out to get here, but, yeah, that's about it," Dana said as she monitored her gages, "So, what's our first move."

"We head back to the States," Xander said in his seat next to Dana, "I updated Riley, so, the Pentagon should be aware of the full situation…if there's still a Pentagon."

"One thing that still baffles me a little," Giles said from the back, "Why didn't they target Washington? And why didn't they take over the Watchers in London, like they did everywhere else?"

"Well, I have a guess as to why they left D.C. alone," Giles raised his eyebrows, inviting Xander to continue, "They know that there are survivors that will oppose them, assuming that their goal is total world domination, which it most likely is, and they will try and hold onto Washington."

"Leave it behind to demoralize them later," Giles said, getting the gist of it, "They must be awfully sure of themselves, then."

"Look who was in charge of them," Andrew reminded him, and the Englishman had to nod in agreement.

"Is," Xander corrected, "That wasn't a kill shot. It missed all the major organs. A human'd take about six months to a year, depending on the overall damage, to recover. She'll be batting a hundred by next week."

"That reminds me," Andrew said, turning his attention back to their Slayer rescuer, "You're that Slayer, Dana, that I helped out years ago?"

She turned at him and glared.

"Yeah, you're definitely her," Andrew said with a sigh, "I'm sorry we couldn't help you."

"…It's alright," Dana said with a sigh, "It was for the best. It was because of my mental problems that I was able to hold out."

"Hold out," Xander asked, confused by her meaning, "What are you talking about?"

Dana took a deep breath and said, "This might be a bit hard for you to believe, but…"

§◙§

**The Land of the Rising Sun; Tokyo; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 30****th****, 2016:**

The upper beings, the proprietors of good, the 'Powers That Be,' had watched the events of recent Earth with despair. They had tried so hard to temper the Slayer into a force of good after the humans had created them, foolishly giving evil a great tool in the war that existed till the end of it all. And, now, all their subtle work was for not. All the Slayers had been activated, and, now, they were all tools for evil.

There was only one thing that they could do…they had agreed, long ago, that the power of the Key was for the use of the Beast, and the Beast only…but, as far as they were concerned, the treaties of old meant nothing

So, the Powers sent their representative down to the Key.

§◙§

Dawn Summers leaned against the wall as she focused on keeping her feet level. She had managed to regain her footing, though she had fallen twice, and she was trying to retain some of her energy by leaning on the wall. She sighed and brought up the apple that she had been munching on up to her mouth and took a small bite. She was trying to regain her strength, but, it was incredibly difficult…being inside the cell was drawing away from her reserves, and she was just about ready to go off to sleep from just leaning.

On the plus side, her injury was healing up well, and didn't seem to be infected.

"You look bushed, sugar," she looked up as she heard a male voice in her cell, and locked her eyes upon a short man dressed in seventies garb with a fedora.

"…Who are you," she managed out, "How'd you get in here?"

"Name's Whistler," the man introduced himself, "I'm here to get you out of here, kid."

"…Really," he looked like barely anything, certainly not enough to handle a Slayer, let alone the whole multitude of them, "My hero."

"Well, actually, I'm here to give you the ability to get out," Whistler told her with a grin, "Kid, I'm going to give you a gift."

He snapped his fingers and, all of a sudden, she felt a rush of power surge through her, pure unfettered power. It was like…nothing she'd ever felt before.

"…What," she asked, her head swooning from the sudden impact.

"I've released the power of the Key," Whistler told her, "You are, currently, the most powerful mage in the world."

Dawn leaned back on the wall even more as she felt the raw energy flow through her veins.

"…Not that I don't appreciate it, but," she paused, struggling to find the right words, before settling on, "Why?"

"Do you really have to ask that," her look answered that question, "Alright, I'll admit, my bosses ain't been the best when it comes to helping you guys, but, that's changed. The rules have changed."

"Rules," she asked, "What rules?"

"The rules of engagement," Whistler said, "That's part of why we've never really given you guys help, save an idea or two. And even with Rat Boy's group, all we did was vague. That's part of the rules."

"You have to be annoying retards," Dawn asked.

"Well…yeah," he said sheepishly, "That's a point in the bad guys' favor. Means information doesn't get received well, and that always has an advantage."

"So, someone organized a treaty between the good and the bad," Dawn asked and, at Whistler's nod, asked, "Who the Hell hammered out that treaty?"

"For the bad guys side, the First," Dawn nodded, figuring that that probably made sense for them, "For our side, a being you know as Jasmine."

Dawn glared, remembering what Buffy had said about Jasmine. A former Power who had been dethroned, only to return in an attempt to control the world through mass mind control. If she'd been in charge of making that treaty, then it was no wonder why the bad guys got a Hell of a lot more breaks than they did.

"Anyway, the Powers, along with a few other organizations upstairs, have decided to…well, ignore the treaty, due to the sudden mass betrayal."

"…What's happening, Whistler," Dawn asked, wanting more answers, "I know things were bad before this, but, they were nowhere near this level."

"…" the balance demon paused for a moment, before asking, "You know how vampires came about?"

"Yeah," she said, remembering what she'd learned from Giles about the last demon to leave this world, and how it had made vampires from its own blood.

"…Sit down, Kid," Whistler advised and Dawn obeyed as she saw the intensity in his eyes, "…I know that your sister told you about the Shadow Men and how they created the Slayer by giving her the heart of a demon…but, it wasn't a pure demon like they thought.

"When the last demon to leave this world created the vampires, it also took a human, a female, and poured its life essence into her…and sent her soul away. Her body became like a demon's, with that demon in control."

"What was the demon's name," Dawn interrupted.

§◙§

**The English Channel; Halfway between Great Britain and France; September 30****th****, 2016:**

"He was born without a name," Dana answered Andrew's question, "But, to the Slayers, he calls himself the Destroyer…Apollyon."

"You mean, he actually communicates with them," Giles asked, "How?"

"Through a mental connection," Dana answered, "When the Shadow Men took the First Slayer and gave her the demon's heart, the demon was actually the same one who created the Slayers…that's why, over time, Slayers and vampires began to come together, like Buffy and her vampires. Since the demon was a part of them, it stayed in the background, influencing every Slayer of the generation, trying to get closer to controlling them…if it hadn't been for Buffy's two resurrections and the activation of all the Slayers, it would have accomplished its goal several thousand years from now."

"…You mean, I…" Xander stared out into the night sky, lost in thought and fear.

"All the Slayers of the past don't know whether to condemn you or love you," Dana said with a grin, "They don't blame you, though…they know you did it out of love. Except for the second time, then, they're pretty much in agreement that all of you suck."

"Nice to know," Xander muttered, "…I damned the world by saving a life…that's just what you'd expect."

"No good deed goes unpunished, eh, Xand," Andrew said with a sigh.

"Don't forget that Willow, Anya, and Tara were involved," Giles reminded him.

"But, Tara and I were against it," Xander said, "…it doesn't matter. Even if we did go against Willow, she would have found a way. I wish she'd told Spike…he would have chewed her out like none of us could have."

"…Dana, please continue," Giles requested the Slayer.

"Well, after Buffy came back, the demon had a lot more influence over her. The first time, it influenced her a lot for a while, but, eventually, she fought back. The demon was weak enough to be sent back, but, not for long."

"That's probably after she got back from that first summer," Xander thought back, "She was so pissed during that time…then, after she realized what an idiot she was, she got better…then, she gradually became what she was then."

"Yes, I noticed that, too," Giles admitted, "I thought it was just the stress of the times."

"Some of it was," Dana told them, "The demon learned its lesson after that battle. It took over slowly, making it seem natural."

"Was it the demon that made Faith evil," Xander asked, hoping that it really was.

"…Somewhat," Dana told him, "When Kendra was called, the demon had a small amount of influence…it'd invested too much into Buffy to do much. When Faith was called, though, it saw that she had lead a much harder life and, as such, she was already hardened in the mind…but, in a way it could work with. It influenced her, but in a way that it knew would lead to her being unstable…and, eventually, turning to evil."

"…I see," Giles responded, "So, this demon must be exceptionally smart, at least in terms of knowledge of the human mind."

"It's been around for hundreds of millions of years," Dana explained, "It picked up a few things."

"So, it's controlling the Slayers en masse," Xander said, "But, how? Can they be freed?"

"Perhaps," Dana's tone relayed just how much she believed it was possible, "The way it works is the demon exists in the Slayers' subconscious minds, influencing their conscious thoughts and feelings. But, now, it's shoved the subconscious forward, leaving the consciousness in a state of false bliss."

"'False bliss,'" Giles muttered, "What do you mean? Do they think they're in heaven or something?"

"They think they're in whatever they believe to be in, wherever they'd like to be," Dana told them, "It makes it towards where they won't be inclined to fight back."

"But, the subconscious controls the finer brain functions, keeps the body alive," Andrew said, "If the conscious part of the mind isn't functioning, how can the body still live?"

Dana did not answer immediately, instead, her eyes lost all focus, like she was off in a daydream. Then, she blinked and her mind returned to them.

"The Slayers say that the conscious only uses enough mental power to create the fantasy, and it lends all the rest of it to the subconscious. That's why the Slayers seem to have some semblance of their original attitudes. The demon creates a link between the Slayers, giving them the ability to hear its orders…and, maybe, eventually to create a psychic link between themselves."

"How are they controlling the mages," Andrew asked.

"There's an item called the Staff of Devosynn that steals people's will," Dana answered, "Turns out, there's more than one in existence…lots more. After the demon told the Slayers where they were, they easily found them and converted them into necklaces and bracelets. They recreated more after they started to run out, in the beginning."

"There's one question that's been bugging me," Xander said, "Why didn't they take the London base when they took the rest? Why'd they wait?"

"To provide a delay," Dana said with a sigh, "In every other country, no one with the Council has any real ability to get the militaries to listen, whereas in London, there are quite a few people who can talk to Parliament and get them to listen, Mr. Giles could even talk to the Prime Minister directly."

"I see," Giles pondered this, "We were trying to find things out, and that took time…lots of time. I thought about calling the Prime Minister, John Cleese, but…by then, the bombings had already begun…and, it was beyond too late. He was hidden or dead by the time it was over. And, it did take time for us to discover their intent…whereas, if they'd attacked instantly, we would have acted much more swiftly, most likely alerting the authorities to the situation."

"…What about freeing them," Andrew asked, "Can it be done?"

"…Only if we find a way to make the Slayers understand what's happening," Dana said, "For now, all that we can see are the Slayers subconscious, which is ruled by the demon. They follow its orders without much thought, to them…it's what they do."

"…So, from what I can see, we have two fronts to work on," Xander said, "One designed to fight against the Slayers, and another to free them."

"What's our next move," Andrew asked.

"Roswell," Xander said, "We need to get this info to the militaries of the world. If we act quick, we may be able to stop them up."

"No," Dana countered, "We're going to Japan."

"Japan," Giles wondered, "…Wait, Dawn's there. We're going after her?"

"The Key," Dana said, "The Slayers want her alive, and unspoiled."

"Why," Xander asked, afraid of the answer.

She never did respond.

§◙§

**The Land of the Rising Sun; Tokyo; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 30****th****, 2016:**

Dawn stared at the wall, her shock and disbelief consuming her. It was simply too much to take in…her sister, Faith, Rona…all of them, controlled by a demon.

"Kid," she ignored the being that had come to rescue her, too lost to really notice his presence, "Dawn, you need to listen…your life, and your sister's, depends on it."

That got her attention, and she looked up into his face, letting him know she was listening.

"With the power that you have now, you can escape, with ease. To use it, just focus on one specific thing. Like, trying and make that door come unlocked."

Dawn didn't understand at first, but, she did as she was told. She focused her mind on the door unlocking and, for the longest time, nothing happened. It was like she was just thinking it, and nothing else.

"You're not using your power," Whistler said, "Reach inside and focus with it."

Dawn sighed and took a deep breath…and, looked inward.


	10. Chapter 10

_Knights of the Intrepid_

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you recognize.

**The United States; Nevada; Secret Military Instillation, codenamed 'Area 51'; September 30****th****, 2016:**

"General, we're getting a message from overseas…it's Harris!"

Sinclair moved quickly, with Finn only a step behind him, and the two Officers looked down into computer screen with every fiber of their being.

"…What the Hell kind of shit is this," Sinclair demanded, "First demon…First Slayer…some kind of magic scepter…Finn, I thought this son of a bitch was on the level, seems to me like he's a nutjob! Talking about magic and shit, what the Hell kind of idiot is this!?"

"Sir," Riley interrupted him, "With all due respect, everything that he's said so far, at least up to the bit where the demon's controlling them, is true, including the magic."

"…What," Sinclair asked, astounded.

"Ri," the Colonel turned to his good friend, Graham, as he came up to them and said, "…We're getting a message…it's from the _USS Kentucky_. Go up to your office."

"…Graham, share some home truths with the General," Finn said as he ran off.

"…Sir," Graham said after the General turned his attention to him, "I think you'd better sit down."

**The Kingdom of Spain; A Coruña, A Coruña Province; Dock Instillation; September 30****th****, 2016:**

"You send it, Andrew," Xander asked as their small friend came up the dock towards their plane.

"Yeah," he answered with a sigh, dropping his gear down on the deck, "I didn't get a reply, but, I left that message you wanted me to about us heading out to Roswell after we rescue Dawn."

"Good," Xander said as he grabbed a crowbar and ripped open one of the crates Andrew had been struggling with.

"My word," Giles muttered as he saw what was inside, "Xander…"

"Relax, G-Man," Xander said as he pulled out an H&K G36 and loaded it up, "Great thing about Spain…ever since France and Italy started going at it, it's been playing the arms race with the two, generating a lot more weaponry than it really knows what to do with…and a lot of the older models, along with a lot of the new models, ended up missing, one or three cases a day."

"How'd you know where to send me," Andrew asked, it was difficult carrying two cases, one with four G36s and one with a bunch of ammo, some incendiary and some regular.

"Met a guy here on a trip from Africa a few years back," Xander said as he handed one rifle off to Dana, who expertly began stripping it down, listening to the voices that were instructing her in field maintenance, "Saved his ass from a few demons, he offered me free stuff.

"While we have a moment…we need to think about what our rules of engagement should be."

"Isn't it obvious," Dana muttered angrily, "Kill them all."

"…If there's a chance that we can save them, we have to take that chance," Xander told her, "I understand how you feel about this, I really do, but, think of it this way…if we were to free them, all of them, at the same time, the war would end immediately, well, almost immediately. Besides, no matter how much anger and hatred you have for them, what's happened to them is not of their own doing."

"You may be right," Dana said with a grim scowl, "But, part of it is. They could have fought their urges for the kill, could've fought their superiority complexes, but none of them did! They let themselves be taken by the Destroyer, and for that, I can never forgive them."

"…It's hard, resisting something that's inside you," Xander said to her, "I know…I was possessed once, too…and, I did a lot of things that…I'm not proud of. But, I was freed, and we need to try and free them, too."

"…You're right," she admitted after some effort, "It's just…I hate them all for what they've become. They let themselves fall."

"Is that just your hate, or they Slayers' hate," he asked her.

"Both," she told him vehemently, "We all hate them…but, we admit that they need to be saved."

Suddenly, she tensed up, and everyone knew that the Slayers were telling her something.

"They're coming," she said, and there was no problem guessing who 'they' were.

"How soon," he asked, getting out another G36 and loading it up.

"Minutes," she said, and she finished putting her rifle together and loaded it up, took the safety off, and grabbed the second crate and opened it up, taking a few clips of ammo from there.

Xander tossed his weapon to Andrew, along with some ammo, which the man nearly dropped, but, managed to catch. He handed off another weapon, with ammo, to Giles, who loaded it up and flipped off the safety as he got ready. Xander reached inside and got the last one, his favorite, the G36 with a drum magazine, which, unlike all the others that only held thirty, held one hundred rounds.

"Why do you get the big one," Dana griped with a smile.

"When you get officially cleared for that class of weapon, then, we'll talk," he grinned cheekily and took the safety off, then, he grabbed some cover on the corner of a building.

Dana had taken a position in the plane, getting the extra ammo inside their vehicle and preparing it for takeoff. Giles and Andrew had taken defensive positions around the plane, knowing that it was necessary to get them out of there.

"…They're here," Dana shouted, pointing straight down the dock, and all three turned to see.

There were no less than eighteen Slayers, all of them dressed in their ritualistic 'come-fuck-me' clothing, the only form of protection being a chest plate from an armor set. The front nine were armed with crossbows, the pump-action ones that could fire six shots every fifteen seconds, while the nine behind them were armed with swords, axes, and two with…

"What the bloody Hell," Giles muttered, "They've got buggering shotguns!"

"They must've been told what we were armed with," Xander knew that it was Slayer's instincts to get medieval weaponry, and that the demon was probably just as old fashioned, but, he was worried that, after seeing what they'd done to the navies and armies of the world, the demon would decide to go into modern weaponry, permanently.

God, he hoped the demon was an idiot, even though it hadn't shown much capacity for idiocy.

"Hold," Xander shouted, then, he turned to the Slayers and shouted, "Stand down and we will not fire on you!"

Instead of answering, one Slayer just fired her crossbow at him, and he barely ducked out of the way.

An echoing roar thundered out and said Slayer fell backward. She had been hit in the chest by one shot from Dana's G36, but, the bullet had merely bounced off the armor, as was evident when that Slayer came to her feet.

"Shit," he muttered, "They're armors' reinforced. Aim for their heads!!"

And, like that, the whole world split open.

**The United States; Nevada; Secret Military Instillation, codenamed 'Area 51'; September 30****th****, 2016:**

"Reports of heavy damage have come in from the _Memphis, Springfield,_ and _Annapolis_," Riley listened to the Warrant Officer on the other end, "All of them have sustained heavy damage to their outer hull, both fore and aft. These all managed to surface and get the damage under control…aside from that, about seven other subs survived the bombings. There was only one vessel otherwise that survived, at least when it comes to things like carriers, frigates, and shit…whoever it was left medical boats and auxiliary craft alone.

"Anyway, it was the _USS Intrepid_. Brass's ordered it commissioned and outfitted, so, it looks like you and your boys'll be moved to the East Coast pretty soon."

"Sir," he interrupted the Warrant Officer, "With respect, Sir, I don't give a shit about that. I just want to know about my wife."

"…We got a transmission from a merchant vessel about a mile off the coast of Iceland. It was about a beached submarine…the ship sent in a team and…it was the _Alexandria_."

"…Any survivors?"

"A few," the man on the other end said, "…Son, your wife was amongst them…but, it's not good. According to the medical report, she took in a lot of shrapnel in her legs and back…she'll never walk again, son."

**The Kingdom of Spain; A Coruña, A Coruña Province; Dock Instillation; September 30****th****, 2016:**

"Just like those damn Slayers," Xander muttered as he took cover from another shotgun blast, "Never know when to quit."

The majority of the Slayers were dead or dying, with only three left fighting. The two gunners were still left, though one was hit in the arm. The third Slayer was armed with a crossbow, with only three arrows left. She and a gunner were hidden behind a few drums filled with water, while the other one was around the corner of the building, sometimes peaking out to take a shot.

But, their side wasn't without casualties, either. Giles was shot in his right hip with a bolt. Dana and he'd worked together, him providing cover and her grabbing him up, and Giles took cover with Xander, behind the building. After performing some quick aid, Giles started helping out by tossing ammo to whoever needed it. Andrew, too, was wounded by one of the Slayers who'd managed to get through their perimeter, given a knife to the shoulder. He was still fighting, though, and that made Xander feel proud for him.

"Damn Slayers," he said to Dana, "They just don't stay down! Never thought I'd hate to see it that way."

"Xander," he turned to Giles for a moment, "We need to wrap this up before the authorities come."

"They're not," Xander said, "They're too busy trying to maintain order. After the bombings and assassinations, a lot of military groups in the country decided to make a bid for control. Spain's in civil war. I don't know about the UK, but, a lot of the US militias sided with the police and National Guardsmen against the groups that did try, like the Neo-Nazis and the KKK."

"How do you know this," Giles asked him, baffled that the young man could have known this.

"I got a paper when we landed," Xander said with a grin.

"…You prat," the Englishman muttered.

Suddenly, the wall beside him burst open, creating a hole about the size of a bowling ball right beside Giles's head.

"God," he screamed, collapsing to the ground with pieces of wood embedded in his skull.

Xander growled under his breath and turned back to the situation at hand, reminding himself that conversations during a battle wasn't a good idea. He popped out from his hiding spot and opened fire on the two Slayers behind the drums. The one with the crossbow had just stood up to fire on Dana, who was ducked down near the plane, hoping to keep it intact for the journey. That Slayer went down the second he pulled the trigger.

The Slayer next to her rose up to take vengeance on him, but, she fell, too, this time from another bullet from another rifle.

"Thanks," Xander shouted to Andrew, who nodded weakly…he was still getting used to this.

So, the three worked together to take down the last Slayer. He issued a few hand signals to Dana, who apparently had a former military Slayer inside, and she nodded.

"Andrew," he called out, "Stay down."

The man nodded his ascent, and Xander settled in to wait on Dana. She was moving around towards the back end, where there was a door that would lead inside the building he was hiding near. She nodded to him and entered the building silently and, as she did, he opened fire on the Slayer, just enough to draw her out.

She opened fire a few times, one of which blew the wood next to him out, embedding a few shards into his abdomen. He leaned against the wall to keep himself upright and waited.

After a few moments, he got the sense that he needed to fire again, so, instead of actually putting himself in the line of fire, he shot blindly into the general area that he knew the Slayer was in. This prompted her to fire once more, and, as a result, Dana fired on her from the inside.

He listened carefully as the shots died down and, after a minute or so, she shouted, "Dead!"

Xander put his weapon down and went over to Giles, who was bleeding from his head and his right shoulder, though it appeared as though the wound on his thigh had stopped bleeding. He saw that a few shards had embedded themselves inside his head, not deep enough to do any kind of permanent harm, but more than enough to be an annoyance.

"Here," he looked up at Andrew and took the first aid kit from him.

"You need that wound looked at," Xander said as he pour some sanitizer on his hands.

"I'm not the one's unconscious," he countered.

"That's more from shock than anything," Xander said, and he began the task of plucking the shards out from his cranium and, as he did this, Andrew began to clean and sterilize the wounds to keep infection down.

**The United Kingdom; London, England; Watchers' Council Headquarters; September 30****th****, 2016:**

Buffy Summers grimaced as the mages finished healing her up, but, that had nothing to do with why she was in pain…well, almost nothing.

The first and foremost thing in her mind was the attack she'd authorized on Xander and the renegade, one that had, according to her Master, ended in a clear victory for their enemies. It was apparent to her, now, that the enemy was more well prepared than even the Master was willing to admit. There were ways to adapt, of course, the most obvious being taking up modern arms themselves…but, it went against the nature of the Slayer, of the vampire, even against the Destroyer's nature…

…but, there was an even simpler way to adjust to what their enemies could do.

"Willow," she called the powerful witch over to her, and the redhead looked at her with the dullness that all their slaves had, "Start looking into a changing spell for us."

"Yes, Mistress Slayer," she replied and left to do exactly that.

"Lynette," she motioned one of her inferior Slayers to her, who looked at her with eagerness at serving the appointed Queen Slayer of the Master, "Find out what's happened in Tokyo. The Master can't feel the Slayers there, and He doesn't know what's happened."

If it had been with free-minded slaves, or people who had been coerced, the thought that their supposed deity might not know something would have inspired doubt, or confusion…the young Slayer, however, merely nodded.

All the Slayers knew that their Master worked through them and the vampires, and, without them, His work couldn't be done.

That made their lives all the more important.

**The Kingdom of Spain; A Coruña, A Coruña Province; Dock Instillation; September 30****th****, 2016:**

"Right," Dana said as she prepped the plane for immediate departure, with a healing Giles and Andrew in the back and Xander with his safetied G36 in his arms, ready to go if the Slayers tried for an aerial attack, "Let's get the Hell out of here!"

"We need to make a quick stop on the way," Xander said, "I hate to say this, but, after today, it's obvious that the Slayers are willing to branch out into more modern technology. In order to win this war, we're going to need a lot of people on our side, military and civilian alike."

"What're you suggesting," she asked tensely.

"I want to talk to a friend of mine," Xander told her, "He's a mage, he's got connections all over every bit of this side of the Earth, and quite a few more on the other side. Give him a week, he can have an outfitted company ready for war."

"…All right," Dana grudgingly agreed, trusting in Xander, despite that a large number of the Slayers were against the idea, though the opposition was fueled by the feeling bred with indirectly causing the Earth's greatest disaster, "Where's he at?"

"Greece," Xander said, "He can get us a new plane, a lot more equipment, and a lot of connections."

"…Make it so," Dana muttered as she followed the Slayers' instructions to set the course.


End file.
